Daughter of Lebanese president says open to peace with Israel, under conditions

The daughter of Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been drawing outrage in her country after repeatedly calling for peace with Israel, though with significant caveats.

Claudine Aoun first made the remark last month, and has since repeated it on TV several times. She tweeted about the issue again yesterday.

“Before talking about peace, we must demarcate the borders and solve the problems related to our land,” she wrote on September 24, referring to a dispute over the maritime border between the countries, which is being dealt with via indirect US-brokered talks, and several minor land disputes.

قبل الحديث عن السلام،علينا ترسيم الحدود وحل المشاكل المتعلقة بأرضنا.عندها أؤيد اعتماد استراتيجية دفاعية تجعل منا جميعا مقاومين،ندافع عن أنفسنا عند تعرضنا للاعتداء.في المطلق جميعنا مع مبدأ السلام وأتمنى أن أزور القدس،لكن ليس قبل أن تحل كل المشاكل @dania_husseini @OTVLebanon
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— Claudine Aoun (@claudineaoun) September 24, 2020

“Then I support adopting a defense strategy that would defend ourselves when we are attacked,” she added. “We all support the principle of peace and I hope to visit Jerusalem, but not before all problems are solved.”

In yesterday’s tweet, Aoun added that the Palestinian refugee issue would have to also be solved — one of the core problems of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is only likely to be solved as part of a general peace agreement between both sides.

“Once these problems are solved, I would not object to the prospect of a peace agreement between the Lebanese state and Israel,” she has said on national TV.