Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 9, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 9, 2025
FM Sa’ar welcomes Aoun’s election as Lebanese president, wishes for ‘good neighborliness’
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar addresses the press ahead of his New Hope party's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulates Lebanon on the election of Joseph Aoun as president after more than two years in which the position was unfilled in the midst of a political crisis.
In a post on X, Sa’ar expresses his hope “that the election will contribute to strengthening stability, a better future for Lebanon and its residents, and good neighborliness.”
Aoun’s election was pushed by the US, Saudi Arabia and France, and is seen as a prerequisite for the full withdrawal of IDF troops from southern Lebanon.
