US envoy Tom Barrack confirmed that Washington is dealing with the Lebanese government as the legitimate body representing Lebanon in the negotiations, stressing that the United States “is negotiating with the government of Lebanon as the only legitimate authority.”
Barak said, in statements to Al-Sharq, that the understandings reached through negotiation are more able to withstand and continue, in reference to Washington’s adherence to the diplomatic path to address the complex issues in the region.
Barak’s statements regarding the Lebanese government gain importance in light of the role played by the United States in communications related to Lebanon and Israel, especially with continued efforts to implement security understandings, address the issue of Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of the Lebanese army, and the state’s restoration of its authority over the entire Lebanese territory.
Regarding the Golan file, Barak clarified that American policy has not changed from the position announced by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2019, saying that “Trump determined America’s policy towards the Golan in 2019 and no change occurred in it.”
He also clarified that his previous reference to the position of the United Nations when talking about the Golan and Lebanon did not mean adopting or supporting this position, stressing: “My reference to the United Nations is not an endorsement of its position.”
Barak’s clarification came after controversy sparked by his previous statements about the status of the Golan, which led to Israeli and American criticism as being inconsistent with the policy established by Trump. In March 2019, Trump announced that the United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, in a shift from American policy that had been followed for decades. Barak confirmed on Sunday that his previous speech was a description of the historical background of the issue and not an adoption of the United Nations position, and that official American policy has not changed.
Israel had controlled most of the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 war, before announcing its annexation in 1981, while the United Nations and most countries of the world still do not recognize the Israeli annexation. However, the Trump administration changed the American position in 2019 and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the region.
