Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter poses for a photo with his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh at the start of their meeting in Washington, the most senior in-person engagement ever held between the two countries.
While a US official had told The Times of Israel that the pair would shake hands, the ambassadors avoided doing so before entering a private room at the State Department along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department Counselor Mike Needham, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. The American diplomats are facilitating the meeting.
The six officials don’t take questions from reporters before heading into the meeting room.
Israel is aiming to use the meeting to discuss the disarmament of Hezbollah along with an eventual peace treaty with Lebanon, while Beirut’s top priority is to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon — something Jerusalem has ruled out, leading two officials involved in the meeting’s planning to temper their expectations for what can be accomplished.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
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