American official dismisses critics in US, Israel: ‘They did not reach a better deal’

More from the top US official, who tears into critics from the Trump administration and the Israeli opposition who have branded the US-brokered maritime agreement between Israel and Lebanon as a deal tilted in Beirut’s favor and beneficial to the Hezbollah terror group.

“Many people have said over the last several days that a better deal could have been done for one side or the other. Others have claimed that they could have negotiated a better deal — some from the region, some from the United States. They were in power. They did not reach a better deal,” the senior official says.

“And when those better so-called better terms for either side were on the table, they ended up not reaching and not concluding an agreement.”

He was dismissive of the argument that previous proposals had been more beneficial to Israel.

“There have been several proposals for so-called better terms for one side or the other, but since they were not agreed to, they were just proposals, and the threat of insecurity, violence and conflict continued to rise.”

“Previous pieces of paper are just that,” he said.