US presses Beirut on 1955 boycott law after complaint against envoy is shelved

Washington is stepping up pressure on Lebanon to scrap its 1955 law banning contact with Israelis, after a complaint against Lebanon's ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, reached the military judiciary, Middle East Eye reports.

Lawyer Hassan Bazzi filed the complaint over a reported call Moawad made to Israel's ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, after his son was wounded. The US State Department called it "embarrassing" that a military court was handling a case against a diplomat carrying out her government's policy, and urged it to prosecute Hezbollah operatives instead. On 14 October the government commissioner at the military court, Judge Claude Ghanem, shelved the complaint.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the law with President Joseph Aoun on 15 October, according to The National, saying it is used for politicised prosecutions. Repeal needs only a simple majority, but no bill has been tabled, and several blocs, including the Kataeb and the Free Patriotic Movement, told MEE the issue is not on the table for now.

The episode shows how the state's negotiators need clear legal cover as talks with Israel shift to military officials.