Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will meet with the Madrid Quartet in New York today to discuss the brewing river crisis in southern Lebanon. The Quartet is comprised of the U.S. Secretary of State, the Russian Foreign Minister, and corresponding representatives of the European Union and the United Nations. Israel is demanding that Lebanon discontinue a project to divert up to a third of the Wazzani River's waters for its own use.
Water from the Wazzani flows into the Hatzbani River, which spills into Israel’s Lake of Galilee, Israel’s main source of drinking water. A delegation of American water experts arrived in Lebanon yesterday to inspect the project, which is advancing at a fast pace. Israel has threatened a military response should the status quo be changed. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said today that he has confidence in the American mediation efforts, but emphasized that Israel would not accept a diversion of water by Lebanon.
Water from the Wazzani flows into the Hatzbani River, which spills into Israel’s Lake of Galilee, Israel’s main source of drinking water. A delegation of American water experts arrived in Lebanon yesterday to inspect the project, which is advancing at a fast pace. Israel has threatened a military response should the status quo be changed. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said today that he has confidence in the American mediation efforts, but emphasized that Israel would not accept a diversion of water by Lebanon.