Over the past week, Lebanon and Israel have been exchanging statements about the ongoing border demarcation talks, the latest of which came on Monday, inviting Lebanese President Michel Aoun to a direct meeting.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz responded to the Lebanese Presidency’s comment on Steinitz’s previous remarks, in which he accused Lebanon of switching its position on the border talks “seven times.”
“Honorable Lebanese President Michel Aoun, I read very carefully your response to my words that you posted on Twitter, and it was my impression that you do not know all the facts, which I will detail below,” he started in a Saturday tweet.
“Since January 2007, when the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Cyprus was signed, Lebanon has provided seven different maritime lines,” Steinitz added, following the tweet up with an elaboration of his position.
2 days later, on Monday morning, Steinitz addressed Aoun again in a few tweets, wishing the Lebanese people a happy Independence Day, and inviting the president to a face-to-face meeting.
“I’m pleased to inform you that I’m enjoying the dialogue that has been taking place between us in recent days on Twitter about maritime border negotiations,” he tweeted.
“Unfortunately, however, you do not seem to know all the facts regarding Lebanon’s many changes in its position on the maritime border in the last 15 years,” he added, tweeting in both Arabic and Hebrew.
He continued: “I’m convinced that if we could meet face to face in one of the European countries for open or secret negotiations, we would have a good chance of resolving the dispute over the maritime border once and for all, thus contributing to the economic future and well-being of both peoples.”
As of the time of writing, the Lebanese Presidency has not responded to the remarks.
