A Lebanese Army truck drives over an Israeli flag on March 14, 1995, in the city of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese government held an extraordinary meeting to protest against the Israeli occupation. (Credit: Ramzi Haidar/AFP Archives)
The scene takes place during an off-the-record meeting of international diplomats in Beirut, attended by a handful of journalists.“An Israeli official in charge of the Lebanon file told me that Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon, only the goal of ending Hezbollah,” one of the diplomats says.A journalist replies, “And you believed him?” On the flip-side Two Lebanons, one war Shortly before, Israel’s ultranationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the country’s northern border should extend to the Litani River. “Yes, but Smotrich does not set government policy,” the diplomat responds. “I have to trust the official tasked with handling the Lebanon file; otherwise, we will get nowhere.”This exchange highlights the difficulties foreign envoys face as they try to cut through the thick fog surrounding Lebanese-Israeli...
The scene takes place during an off-the-record meeting of international diplomats in Beirut, attended by a handful of journalists.“An Israeli official in charge of the Lebanon file told me that Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon, only the goal of ending Hezbollah,” one of the diplomats says.A journalist replies, “And you believed him?” On the flip-side Two Lebanons, one war Shortly before, Israel’s ultranationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the country’s northern border should extend to the Litani River. “Yes, but Smotrich does not set government policy,” the diplomat responds. “I have to trust the official tasked with handling the Lebanon file; otherwise, we will get nowhere.”This exchange highlights the difficulties foreign envoys face as they try to cut through the thick fog surrounding...
