Lead:
Lebanese columnists at Addiyar grapple with mounting structural instability within the cabinet of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the constitutional tensions erupting over ministerial powers, competing international mediations, and the fragility of ceasefire arrangements with Israel. The commentary reflects a media landscape preoccupied with governance collapse and Lebanon's diminishing agency in regional geopolitics.
Voices & Positions:
In Addiyar, columnists argue that President Joseph Aoun has stepped into the breach to contain disputes between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defence Minister Michel Menasse—signalling that constitutional mechanisms alone cannot stabilize the cabinet, and that families of military martyrs now face pressure to mobilize politically in response.
In Addiyar, one writer contends that the government under Salam persists not because of domestic political strength but because its survival is anchored to external regional and international conditions—suggesting that without external support, the cabinet faces imminent collapse.
In Addiyar, another argues that the seventh round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Rome achieved technical progress yet revealed Israel's unilateral freedom to violate ceasefire terms at will, undermining substantive diplomatic gains.
In Addiyar, columnists assess that Turkey's diplomatic overtures to broker dialogue between Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara and Hezbollah remain uncertain, and that divergent U.S. and Israeli positions on southern Lebanon's future now constitute the primary obstacle to resumed negotiations.
In Addiyar, writers observe that U.S. policy toward Iran, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese file itself appears incoherent, and that Lebanese political actors face diminishing returns in gambling on any single foreign power for strategic backing.
Tension & Convergence:
Writers converge on the assessment that Lebanese state institutions lack independent viability and depend entirely on external actors—whether France, Turkey, the United States, or Israel—for their functional existence. They diverge sharply on whether international mediation offers genuine solutions or merely postpones structural collapse. Most agree that Israel operates without constraint; few hold optimism about ceasefire durability or political settlement.
Editorial Takeaway:
The dominant voice today is one of institutional fragility and geopolitical helplessness—Lebanon's government survives not by design but by foreign indulgence.