America’s energy czar is purported to be mediating a secret gas arrangement between Israel and Lebanon, a Herculean task given delineation complexities but not farfetched given ongoing efforts to resolve similar disputes between Tel Aviv and Nicosia.
US Senior Advisor for Energy Security Amos Hochstein will be in Beirut this week, according to sources in Israel, in an effort to mediate talks between Lebanon and Israel over a shared maritime border.
It was reported that Hochstein would present a new Israeli proposal that "includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel's commercial rights.”
Israel has been seeking a similar deal with neighbor Cyprus. The two countries claim zones that border Lebanon’s waters, proven to be rich in hydrocarbons, but also claim rights to a deposit spanning across their shared maritime border.
