Opinion: Can the US push Lebanon to normalise with Israel?

Talk of normalisation between Lebanon and Israel has been non-stop in recent days. The flurry of speculation reached a crescendo late last month, when the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, declared that normalisation was “a real possibility”.

Several Lebanese politicians joined the chorus. MP Paula Yacoubian, a self-declared reformist, described normalisation as a “taboo” that needs to be broken. Pro-Saudi MP Walid Baarini, whose constituency in the Akkar region is pro-Palestinian, announced that normalisation may enable Lebanon to wrest back territory that Israel has occupied during the current war and restore stability.

Recycled claims were also peddled about the alleged economic benefits of “peace” with Israel, and Lebanon’s need to catch up with other Arab countries that have crossed that bridge. 

Belated assurances by Lebanon’s newly-elected president, Joseph Aoun, and appointed prime minister, Nawaf Salam, that normalisation was not on the table put the brakes on this feverish campaign. Faced with public pressure, Baarini backtracked.

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