IDF on ‘Heightened Alert’ After Negotiations Get Complicated According to Al Monitor, “Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for escalation on Israel’s northern border after Prime Minister Yair Lapid dismissed the changes requested by the Lebanese government over the most recent draft of a bilateral maritime agreement. Israel’s security cabinet convened [yesterday] to review the changes requested by Lebanon on Tuesday.” [Al Monitor]
Special Coordinator Hochstein to Relay Israeli Response to Lebanon’s Remarks on Maritime Border Proposal According to Naharnet, “U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will on Friday deliver written Israeli remarks over his proposal to Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, LBCI TV reported.” [Naharnet]
Lebanese Banks to Close Again According to the National, “Banks in Lebanon will again close their doors until further notice from Friday after repeated security incidents, a source told The National. Lebanese banks closed their doors last month after at least seven branches were raided by angry depositors in a week, including five in one day.” [The National]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
“Here, You Can Only Expect Help From God” Jean AbiNader
AbiNader writes, “When I first visited Lebanon in the early 70s, I came with my mother’s stories of tasty, larger-than-life produce born from the tradition of small-scale, farming that historically fed the nation. Like others, my family had moved from silk production, to tobacco, to fresh produce that always found its way to a ready market in neighboring Batroun. Based on these vivid memories, I had high expectations and was pleased to be fully rewarded by the vitality and scope of the Lebanese markets. Then came the civil war. With young people emigrating to the Gulf and West Africa, farming became an illusory pursuit – abandoned to the greenhouses that dotted the fields and hills as one traveled north and east from Beirut. Lebanese could buy whatever they wanted to consume thanks to the inflated currency and the supply chains that seemed to crisscross the region, bringing products to vendors on every corner. Since then, the decline of the agri-business sector has both changed the country-side as well as options for the future. As in other countries, young people have no interest in finding opportunities in agriculture despite the usual availability of all the productive and marketing inputs. In fact, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) addressed the prospects for Lebanon’s agro-economy in several studies done in the last decade that indicated the competitiveness of Lebanese fruits and vegetables. Since then, with the onset of the pandemic and subsequent global supply-chain issues, additional studies point to the multiplicity of benefits from supporting an active agro-economy – not only for farmers, but also for the country.”
L’Orient Today Ahead of Next Week’s Parliamentary Voting Session, MPs Rally Support for Moawad Yara Abi Akl
Abi Akl writes, “From the day after the first parliamentary session last month to elect a new president, the traditional opposition has been working to unify its ranks in order to improve the standing of its candidate Michel Moawad. Moawad managed to collect 36 votes after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri put pressure on all actors. However, while urging them to agree on a candidate, Berri did not give them the luxury of time. Yesterday, Berri called the MPs to convene for a second round of voting on Oct. 13 at 11 a.m., again not waiting for them to reach a consensus on a candidate — as he had promised to do when he adjourned the first session. The traditional opposition bloc now faces a short deadline to rally the largest number of MPs, including those who had cast votes for “Lebanon” in the first session, behind their cause.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.
