U.S. blasts "embarrassing" complaint against Lebanon's ambassador

Washington — The Trump administration sharply criticized a legal complaint filed in Lebanon against the country's ambassador to Washington over her reported outreach to her Israeli counterpart, accusing Hezbollah-linked actors of seeking to obstruct U.S.-led efforts to foster diplomatic contacts between the two countries.

The complaint against Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad was filed with Lebanon's military judiciary by a lawyer the U.S. described as "pro-Hizbollah," in response to a report in Lebanese media that Moawad contacted Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter after his son was seriously injured in a car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank last month.

"It is embarrassing that a military court is handling a complaint against the Lebanese Ambassador in Washington for carrying out the policy of their legitimate government and engaging in U.S.-led negotiations," a State Department spokesperson told CBS News late Tuesday, in an unusually pointed statement. 

The two diplomats have been participating in U.S.-brokered talks aimed at improving relations between Israel and Lebanon — an effort that has faced resistance from Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades in Washington in April, with the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. sitting alongside their American counterparts. Pictures of Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the ambassadors drew scorn from Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon.

"The Lebanese military judiciary should use its limited resources to prosecute Hizballah operatives plotting against the Lebanese government and people instead of working on their behalf," said the State Department official, who also called for the repeal of laws and practices that enable the "politicized targeting" of civilians and diplomats while shielding Hezbollah. 

"We have no patience for obstruction," the official said. 

That appeared to be a reference to a 1955-era anti-normalization law which was part of a broader Arab League boycott of Israel and prohibits any contact between Lebanese and Israeli citizens.

A diplomatic source told CBS News that the law is outdated and has become a tool used by Hezbollah to suppress those who seek peace and normal relations with Israel.

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy for comment.

It is unclear whether the complaint against Moawad will result in formal proceedings. 

It comes amid a sustained push by the Trump administration to bring the longtime adversaries, still formally at war, closer together. In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the two ambassadors for direct talks, acknowledging at the time that the U.S. was working against "decades of history and complexities." 

In June, the two countries signed a framework agreement meant to lay the groundwork for lasting peace, based on a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon alongside the disarmament of Hezbollah and deployment of Lebanese government forces. Implementation of the agreement has stalled amid disagreements over the sequencing and verification of those steps. The last formal round of talks, held in Rome in August, ended without a breakthrough. 

The ambassadors met most recently at the State Department in September, and another round of negotiations is expected this month in Rome.