The Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joe Raggi. AFP
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday firmly denied Israeli media reports of an alleged meeting between Lebanese Foreign Minister Joe Rajji and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, in Brussels earlier this week during a ministerial forum between the European Union and Southern Mediterranean countries.
The denial came after Israeli television channel i24NEWS claimed "an unprecedented diplomatic meeting took place Monday in Brussels between the foreign ministers of Israel, Lebanon, Syria and their European counterparts."
Israel's ambassador to the European Union, Haim Regev, told the Jerusalem Post that "the very fact that they were sitting there sends a message."
Regev described the forum as an "intimate gathering aimed at discussing regional developments" to the Israeli daily. Regev said he "could not recall the last time an Israeli foreign minister was in the same room as those of Lebanon and Syria."
When asked about a possible diplomatic breakthrough, Regev answered, "We shouldn’t exaggerate, but it is certainly another sign of the shifting dynamics in the region, particularly in relation to Syria and Lebanon."
Participation in the Brussels conference 'coordinated' with Aoun and Salam
Responding to the reports, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry accused the Israeli outlets of "deliberately misrepresenting Joe Rajji's participation at the EU neighborhood conference by assigning it dimensions contrary to reality."
The ministry said Rajji attended "an expanded session in which Arab foreign ministers from the Mediterranean region participated," including Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. Tunisia, Libya and Algeria, who were absent, were represented by their ambassadors to Belgium.
"Lebanon regularly participates in these types of meetings alongside Mediterranean countries since the launch of the Barcelona Process 30 years ago. Beirut also participates every year in the United Nations General Assembly, where Israel is also present," the ministry statement added. Rajji’s attendance at the Brussels conference was "coordinated" with President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the ministry concluded.
On Friday, President Joseph Aoun ruled out any normalization of relations with Israel, while voicing support for a peaceful situation with the neighboring country, which still occupies part of Lebanese territory.
The president "distinguished between peace and normalization," according to a presidential statement. This was the first official Lebanese reaction to comments by the Israeli foreign minister, who said on June 30 that Israel was "interested" in normalization with Syria and Lebanon.
Iran negotiator vows 'decisive' response to US-Israeli attack
