Tomorrow, American-mediated talks are set to begin between Beirut and Jerusalem over the precise location of the border between the two countries’ coastal waters. The two states are legally at war, as Lebanon declared war on the nascent Jewish state in 1948, and, although it signed an armistice agreement a year later, a formal peace has never been concluded. But the presence of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean has given Lebanon an impetus to resolve the dispute over the maritime border. Alan Baker writes:

Last month, Jerusalem and Washington announced the successful testing of jointly developed, sophisticated systems for knocking incoming rockets and missiles out of the air. This technology, writes Michael Knights, is not only of strategic importance to both countries, but can be of use to the Gulf states, which also are under the growing threat of Iranian missile attacks. Further improvements are necessary, however, and the Abraham Accords may be the best tool for advancing them: