Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, said Tuesday's meeting with Lebanese officials went as well as it could have as both parties agreed on the need to "liberate" the country from Hezbollah.
"We discovered today that we're on the same side of the equation, and that's the most positive thing we could have come away with," Leiter told press outside the State Department. "We are both united in liberating Lebanon from an occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah."
Leiter went on to say that the talks, hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, were focused on laying out a "long term vision where there will be a clearly delineated border between our countries, and where the only reason we'll need to cross each other's territory will be in business suits to conduct business or in bathing suits to go on vacation."
The official also praised Lebanese officials for taking part on the talks despite Hezbollah's calls not to, and said they "expressed a strong will to this time disarm Hezbollah."
"The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah," Leiter added.
Hezbollah not only called on Lebanese officials to not attend the meeting, but a top official also said the group won't observe any agreement reached between the countries.
Concretely, Al Arabiya noted that the remarks were made by Wafik Saha. They follow those of the group's top leader, Naim Qassem, who said the entity "absolutely rejects" the talks.
Qassem also claimed that Israel also intends to ultimately annex Lebanon as part of a "Greater Israel" project, which claims that the country seeks to dominate most of the Middle East.
"Our choice is resistance and confrontation in the face of this enemy, and we consider these negotiations to be worthless and will only provide the enemy with free concessions," Qassem said, adding that negotiations "will only bring defeat for Lebanon's government and people."
Elsewhere in the engagement with press, Leiter did not specify whether Israel will answer Lebanon's call for a ceasefire, saying the country will act to protect its citizens. In fact, Hezbollah launched rockets to northern Israel as talks were set to begin.
There is no set date for a follow-up meeting, but Leiter said both sides will take the proposals to officials and expects them to resume in the United States over the course of the following weeks.
