Israel will not withdraw from the disputed town of Ghajar on the northern border until after elections in Lebanon this June, according to the AP news service. The report was based on testimony from an unnamed senior Israeli official.
According to the official, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are concerned over a possible Hizbullah takeover of the village after the elections. The Hizbullah-led opposition in Lebanon is in a close race with the current coalition majority for control of the country.
After the elections, Israel will ask the Lebanese government to ensure that Hizbullah will not seize control of the town, the source said.
Conflict with the U.S. ?
The report, if true, may put Israel in conflict with the United States. U.S. officials have pressured Israel to withdraw from northern Ghajar prior to the elections, a move they hope will strengthen current Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
If Israel agrees to withdraw prior to the elections, the move could be complicated by the fact that many residents of northern Ghajar are against the withdrawal. Many of the residents say Ghajar is Syrian, and argue that turning the village over to Lebanon will turn its residents into unwanted refugees. The village should remain under Israeli control until it can be returned to Syria, they say.
Residents may appeal to Israel's Supreme Court, slowing the withdrawal process.
Ghajar became Israeli after the Six Day War. The village expanded northward into Lebanese territory in the years following the First Lebanon War (1982), when Israel occupied a security belt in southern Lebanon. Israel withdrew from that security belt in 2000.
The United Nations demanded that Israel withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar under Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War. The southern half of Ghajar is located within Israeli territory as defined by the UN, and will remain under Israeli control.