RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to announce this week Israel’s intention to withdraw from the northern part of the village of Ghajar on the border with Lebanon.
The daily Haaretz yesterday quoted a senior Israeli politician as saying that Netanyahu’s declaration would be in response to a US request to this effect. The move would also be a goodwill gesture to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora ahead of Lebanese parliamentary elections in early June.
The report added that the withdrawal from the northern part of the village is unlikely to take place before the Lebanese elections because of the high number of petitions villagers are expected to file with the Israeli High Court of Justice against the pullback.
Ghajar was annexed in 1981 and its residents are now Israeli citizens. After the Israel forces withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, the UN said the border between Lebanon and Syria runs through the village.
Nonetheless, Netanyahu hopes to make an announcement on the matter to bolster moderates in Lebanon before his trip to Washington on May 17.
Israel’s security Cabinet is likely to meet Wednesday to discuss the issue, with an announcement after the meeting on the new Israeli government’s intention to carry out the withdrawal, the newspaper said.
The pullback would be done in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the July 2007 war on Lebanon, as well as a series of arrangements on security and civil issues that Israel had been negotiating with the UN and Lebanon since November last year.
During his visit to Israel two weeks ago, US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell raised the issue of Ghajar in his talks with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Mitchell asked that Israel carry out the withdrawal as promised when Ehud Olmert was prime minister. The Americans have been pressuring Israel over the past year to withdraw, arguing that this does not constitute a gesture but part of an Israeli commitment under Resolution 1701.
