Netanyahu has plan to solve Shebaa, Ghajar issues – MK
Israeli Prime Minister designate Benyamin Netanyahu will ask residents of the disputed territories of Shebaa and Ghajar whether they would like to join Lebanon or Syria after he takes office, an Israeli politician has said.
Israeli Knesset member Ayoub Kara said that Netanyahu”s plans would be "surprising to the whole world," placing the Shebaa Farms, Ghajar and the Golan Heights at the center of the peace process.
The Al-Hayat daily said that a private committee would be formed to settle the issue of Shebaa and Ghajar, which have been occupied by Israeli troops since 1967, after Netanyahu forms a government.
The committee would survey residents to see whether they considered themselves Syrian or Lebanese, Kara said. "If the residents of Ghajar say they have proof that they carry Syrian IDs and announce they reject joining Lebanon, how are we supposed to negotiate with Lebanon on the issue?" he asked.
Kara said that a decision on the disputed land will be dependent on security assessments with regard to Hizbullah. He said that the Likud party aimed "to prevent Hizbullah from being present in the borders area or even to dominate it, in addition to ensuring stability along the Lebanese-Israeli border."
He said that cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would help to achieve this goal, but said it was also dependent on the stance of the new US administration toward both Syria and Iran.
"Any agreement between the three parties will lead to a change of Iranian policy and will definitely reflect Tehran”s relations with both Syria and Lebanon," he said.
Israel claims that the Shebaa Farms are part of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 war and has occupied since.
Damascus has said that the Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon, but has failed to hand documents proving this to the UN team tasked with settling the issue.
Ghajar, meanwhile, sits on the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights and was also seized by the Israelis in 1967. The village expanded into Lebanese territory and the control of the northern part was handed to Lebanon when Israel ended its occupation of Lebanon in 2000.
But in the summer 2006 war Israeli troops again seized control of the northern part of the village and have refused to withdraw, despite repeated requests from UNIFIL to do so.