Netanyahu Postpones Decision on Pullout from Ghajar to Friday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a decision on withdrawal from the Lebanese border village of Ghajar to Friday, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.
The newspaper said the village”s notables had asked Netanyahu not to yield to U.S. demands for the Israeli pullout from the northern part of Ghajar, stressing the withdrawal does not take into consideration "their interests and needs."
Ghajar is inhabited mainly by Alawites, most of whom have obtained Israeli citizenship even though they consider themselves Syrian.
The Israeli deputy regional development minister met with the notables Tuesday night and informed them that Netanyahu will postpone discussion of the withdrawal for a few days.
On Wednesday, officials from the Israeli and Lebanese militaries met with U.N. peacekeeping officials at the border crossing of Naqoura to discuss the U.N.”s withdrawal proposal.
Israel”s Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday that Netanyahu plans to seek cabinet approval of the withdrawal plan before flying to Washington in mid-May.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, who is visiting Lebanon, attended Wednesday”s meeting and is planning to press the withdrawal issue further when he visits Israel in the coming days.
"I hope that the ongoing discussions on the basis of UNIFIL”s proposal of last year will lead to a speedy resolution of this matter," Le Roy said, according to a statement from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.
Israel took the village of Ghajar when it captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.
The village was divided between an Israeli-controlled part and a Lebanese section by the United Nations after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south in 2000.
Israel retook the northern part of the village in the 2006 war with Hizbullah and balked at withdrawing earlier due to security concerns.