Lebanon’s Parliament Elects Army Chief as New President
The Lebanese Parliament has elected General Joseph Aoun, the country’s current army chief, as its new president. Aoun received 99 votes in a second round of voting, securing the necessary majority. As army chief, he is currently responsible for overseeing the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, which was agreed upon in November.
According to a US official and a source familiar with the matter, the Biden administration and the Trump transition team had been coordinating closely to advance Aoun’s candidacy. Aoun’s victory gives a boost to the pro-Western camp in Lebanon and is a blow to Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian groups in the region.
The US administration had seen an opportunity to influence the Lebanese leadership after Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the militia’s series of losses. The US government decided to capitalize on the situation and push for the election of a new president.
The efforts gained momentum six weeks ago, when Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement. The day after the agreement took effect, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament announced that presidential elections would take place on January 9.
US officials stated that the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia had been working together in the past six weeks to ensure that the parliamentary vote on January 9 would result in the election of a new president. France and Qatar also supported these efforts.
The efforts reached a peak this week, as the US envoy who mediated the ceasefire agreement, Amos Hochstein, traveled to the region, according to US officials. The US did not publicly comment, but in private settings, Hochstein advocated for Aoun. The Biden administration views the commander of the Lebanese military as a professional who is pro-Western, does not support Hezbollah, and enjoys the trust of the majority of Lebanese, said two US officials.
Before his trip, Hochstein and the national security advisor of the White House, Jake Sullivan, met with Trump’s national security advisor, Representative Mike Waltz, to coordinate their positions, a US official and a source familiar with the matter said.
According to the source, Waltz and the Biden team were in agreement that it was important for Hezbollah not to make a comeback in the presidential election process. Hochstein also kept in touch with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and informed him of the developments surrounding the Lebanese presidential elections, a US official said.
When Hochstein traveled to Riyadh on January 5 and then to Beirut the next day, he told his interlocutors that he was speaking for the Biden administration, but that the Trump transition team was in agreement with their position on the Lebanese presidential elections, said another US official.
According to the ceasefire agreement, Israel’s military must complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by the end of January. Israeli officials have recently stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the IDF leadership plan to leave some of their forces in three key positions in southern Lebanon, rather than fully withdrawing.