Cabinet Minister Gila Gamliel confirms Benjamin Netanyahu will hold historic call with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Minister Gila Gamliel confirms PM Netanyahu will speak with Lebanese President Aoun today, following Donald Trump's announcement of a diplomatic breakthrough.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 16, 2026, 3:58 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Times of Israel

Specific Leaders Identified for Landmark Communication

A senior member of the Israeli security cabinet has provided the first official confirmation regarding the participants of today's scheduled high-level diplomatic call. Minister Gila Gamliel, speaking to Army Radio, identified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun as the two leaders set to engage in the historic conversation. This clarification follows hours of intense speculation after the American administration announced that a direct dialogue was imminent but failed to specify which officials would be involved.

Contradicting Earlier Denials from Beirut

The confirmation from Minister Gamliel serves to counter a series of denials issued by Lebanese sources earlier this morning. Following President Trump’s initial social media post, multiple outlets reported that officials in Beirut claimed they were unaware of any scheduled contact through official channels. The public statement by a member of Israel's security cabinet suggests that the arrangements for the call may have been finalized through direct U.S. mediation, potentially bypassing traditional Lebanese bureaucratic hierarchies.

The Culmination of High Level Washington Summits

This scheduled dialogue follows a week of unprecedented diplomatic activity in the United States. Earlier this week, representatives from both Israel and Lebanon convened in Washington, D.C., for a U.S.-backed peace summit. Those meetings were characterized as the highest-level direct engagement between the two nations to date, setting the stage for the leap toward a formal conversation between heads of state and government.