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The failure to renew the mandate of Lebanese Army General Mounir Chehadeh, head of the team leading indirect negotiations with Israel to resolve disputes over land borders, will adversely affect negotiations, which had achieved significant progress under his guidance. Chehadeh’s successor will need to review the entire file and adapt to the dynamics of negotiations with his Israeli counterparts. Obviously, the new negotiator will need time to fully understand the methodology, the approach, and, more importantly, the tone to adopt in indirect talks, which is critically important in this type of negotiation.
So, why did Minister of Defense Maurice Slim refuse to maintain Chehadeh in his position by promoting him to the rank of Major General or by recalling him as an Army reservist?
According to well-informed sources, promoting Chehadeh to the rank of Major General would have made him the highest-ranking officer in the Army, second only to Commander-in-Chief General Joseph Aoun. Given his seniority, he would have had a better chance than Major General Pierre Saab of being appointed as Joseph Aoun’s successor after the latter retires. It should be noted that Saab was originally named to the Military Council by decree. He thus serves in an institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, not the Army, and according to the defense law, appointing him to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Army is therefore prohibited. Chehadeh, on the other hand, can hope to fill that position after being promoted to the rank of Major General.
As per the same sources, should the minister of defense choose to promote Chehadeh or recall him from the reserve to keep him in service, he will have to extend Joseph Aoun’s term in office automatically, especially if the latter reached retirement age in the absence of a President of the Republic and a functional government to designate his successor.
All things considered, maintaining the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in his position outweighs the importance of retaining anyone as the head of the negotiation team with Israel. Nonetheless, according to these sources, the defense minister cannot take such an initiative simply because he wants to seize the opportunity with his political allies to get rid of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army as quickly as possible.
