There is a clear difference in the way the US and Israel on one hand, and Lebanon on the other, are speaking about the direct talks in Washington between the two longtime enemy states.
“The hope today is that we can outline the framework upon which a permanent, lasting peace can be developed so that the people of Israel can live in peace and the people of Lebanon can live, not just in peace but in the prosperity and security that they deserve,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday after the sides sat down at the State Department.
A senior Israeli official expressed a similarly optimistic vision of the potential for a new reality for Israel and Lebanon.
“There is a mutual Israel and Lebanese interest to dismantle Hezbollah and forge a real peace between Lebanon and Israel,” the Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
“That is what we will be concentrating on.”
Published originally on April 15, 2026.
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
