Jewish leaders hail deal as ‘historic opportunity’

Australian Jewish leaders have welcomed a landmark trilateral framework agreement signed between Israel, Lebanon and the United States on Friday, following months of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The framework states, “Israel and Lebanon affirm the right of each state to exist in peace, and their mutual desire to live in security as neighbouring sovereign states. Israel and Lebanon hereby declare their intent to conclusively end the conflict, address its underlying causes, and to therewith formally conclude any state of war between them.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein described the framework as a “historic opportunity to advance peace and stability for both Lebanon and Israel, while recognising the legitimacy of Israel’s actions to defend its citizens from sustained attacks by Hezbollah”.

He noted that Israel and Lebanon have no significant territorial dispute, and that “repeated rounds of conflict between them are almost solely the result of the fact that outside forces, especially Iran, have been determined to put Lebanon on the front line as part of their strategy of surrounding Israel with a ‘ring of fire’.”

Rubenstein added, “The key to both a short-term stable ceasefire and longer-term peace hopes will be progress on an already agreed program of disarming the Iran-backed terror organisation Hezbollah.”