On his first foreign trip since becoming Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid traveled to Paris yesterday to ask President Emmanuel Macron to “intervene” to save gas talks between Lebanon and the Jewish state.
On Friday, Lapid took over as prime minister as part of an agreement he struck with far-right Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett to form a government coalition that would take them in turn to lead the government if parliament is dissolved.
The day after Lapid assumed his duties, the Israeli army intercepted three drones launched by the Lebanese Hezbollah towards gas fields in the Mediterranean.
Before taking off from Tel Aviv airport for France on a visit originally scheduled for his predecessor Naftali Bennett, Lapid spoke in Hebrew and translated into Arabic for the press in his office: “We will, of course, discuss what has recently happened in Lebanese shores of repeated attacks on Israeli gas platforms.”
Lebanon considers the Karish field to be part of Israel’s disputed waters, while the Jewish state claims it is in its exclusive economic zone.
