There is a clear difference in the way the US and Israel on one hand, and Lebanon on the other, are speaking about the direct talks in Washington between the two longtime enemy states.

“The hope today is that we can outline the framework upon which a permanent, lasting peace can be developed so that the people of Israel can live in peace and the people of Lebanon can live, not just in peace but in the prosperity and security that they deserve,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday after the sides sat down at the State Department.

A senior Israeli official expressed a similarly optimistic vision of the potential for a new reality for Israel and Lebanon.

“There is a mutual Israel and Lebanese interest to dismantle Hezbollah and forge a real peace between Lebanon and Israel,” the Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

“That is what we will be concentrating on.”

After the meeting, Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter said the talks focused on crafting 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.”

Lebanese officials however are talking about something else entirely. They insist their only aim at this stage is to stop Israeli operations in their country.

Before the meeting, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun expressed his hope that “an agreement will be reached on a ceasefire in Lebanon, with the aim of initiating direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, which will be handled by a Lebanese negotiating team to put an end to hostile actions.”

“This is a preliminary meeting on an ambassadorial level,” Lebanon’s Culture Minister Ghassan Salame told Al-Monitor on Monday.

“Our intent is to press during that meeting tomorrow for a pause in violence.”

Salame said that Beirut wants a 15-day pause in fighting if it is to countenance broader negotiations.

After the meeting, the joint statement........

© The Times of Israel