The AP’s third update of the Lebanon-Israel clash over maritime borders is the fairest of them all.
The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a proposed maritime boundary line with Lebanon — setting up a new conflict over huge natural gas and oil reserves.
The two enemy countries are staking claims for a demarcation line in the Mediterranean Sea, where significant energy reserves have been found in recent years. Israel recently discovered two gas fields off its coast, and energy companies believe other reserves could be found there. The fields could help Israel meet its energy needs for many years.
Israeli officials said the government felt compelled to set a proposed boundary after Lebanon submitted its own proposal to the U.N. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that Lebanon’s proposal would place the border “significantly south” of Israel’s line.
“What is more significant in my eyes, it conflicts with the line that Lebanon itself agreed upon with Cyprus in 2007,” he added.
Good for them.