JERUSALEM (Jerusalem Post) - Prime Minister Yair Lapid rejected the changes Lebanon proposed to a maritime border agreement drafted by the US, a senior diplomatic source said on Thursday.

US Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein's draft, presented to Israel and Lebanon last week, was meant to be close to the final version of an agreement settling the dispute over the countries' economic waters. Lebanon submitted its comments on the draft on Tuesday.

Lapid assessed some of the demands to be new and significant, and instructed the negotiating team to reject them.

"Prime Minister Lapid made clear that he will not compromise on Israel's security and economic interests even if it means there will not be an agreement soon," the source said.

At the same time, "Israel will extract gas from the Karish rig at the moment that it will be possible," he stated.

Karish, an Israeli gas field, is adjacent to Kana, a reservoir that spans Lebanese and Israeli waters, as well as the area in dispute. Energean, which holds the Israeli license for Karish, set up a rig about 70 km from Haifa's shores in June and has worked towards extracting gas, while Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah threatened to attack if Karish becomes operative.

"If Hezbollah or someone else tries to harm Karish or threaten us, the negotiations on the maritime line will stop immediately and [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah will have to explain to the citizens of Lebanon why they don't have a gas rig and an economic future," the source added.

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