US Secretary Pompeo offers to mediate between Israel and Lebanon

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday voiced regret over an impasse in maritime border talks between Israel and Lebanon and offered Washington’s mediation.

The two nations which remain technically at war opened negotiations in October after quiet US diplomacy, seeking to clear the way for offshore oil and gas exploration sought by both.

“Regrettably, despite goodwill on both sides, the parties remain far apart,” said Pompeo, who has one month left in office after US President Donald Trump’s electoral defeat.

“The United States remains ready to mediate constructive discussions and urges both sides to negotiate based on the respective maritime claims both have previously deposited at the United Nations.”

The Trump administration has heralded major progress in its waning days in Israel’s relations with the Arab world.

Since August, four Arab nations have agreed to recognise Israel. Trump tweeted the first announcement of normalisation of ties between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel on August 13. Bahrain followed suit a month later, and both Arab countries signed agreements with Israel at the White House in mid-September. In October, Sudan agreed to normalise its relationship with Israel, and in December, Morocco did the same.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser flew with an Israeli delegation on the first flight between Israel and Morocco on Tuesday to mark the deal.

Palestinian officials have called the normalisation agreements “a stab in the back” to the Palestinian cause, running contrary to the longstanding Arab position that any recognition should include Israeli withdrawal from occupied land and Palestinian statehood.

Trump has said he would like more Arab countries to join the deals and had lobbied hard to get Saudi Arabia on board. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said in August the country would not establish ties with Israel until there was a peace deal with the Palestinians.

The United States remains ready to mediate constructive negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments on their maritime boundary. We encourage both sides to continue discussions based on the respective claims they have previously deposited at the United Nations.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 22, 2020

The latest session of talks between Israel and Lebanon was put off after the Israel accused its neighbour of inconsistency.

The two nations have been negotiating based on a map registered with the United Nations in 2011, which shows an 860-square-kilometre (330-square-mile) patch of the sea as being disputed.

But Lebanon considers that map to have been based on wrong estimates and now demands an additional 1,430sq km (552sq miles) of sea farther south, which includes part of Israel’s Karish gas field, according to Lebanese energy expert Laury Haytayan.

The US offered significant enticements to Muslim nations willing to make agreements with Israel. US officials have agreed to sell F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, recognise Morocco’s claims over the disputed Western Sahara region and removed Sudan from its list of states sponsoring terrorism and reinstated the country’s sovereign immunity.

Bloomberg news agency reported on Tuesday that Indonesia could receive billions of dollars in US aid if it were to normalise relations with Israel.