‘Anti-Israel’ ICJ President Nawaf Salam Designated Lebanon’s PM

Just months ago the western media was panning International Court of Justice (ICJ) President Nawaf Salam as having an “anti-Israel” bias. Today he’s been concurrently named Prime Minister-Designate in Lebanon, although the media’s focus today is less on his Israel position than on reports that Hezbollah didn’t support his nomination.

Salam’s family has a long history in politics. His grandfather founded the Reform Movement, which opposed the Ottoman-era occupation of Middle East states. His uncle, Sael Salam, held the Lebanese premiership four times and, more recently, his cousin Tammam Salam was PM from 2014 to 2016.

Nawaf Salam was educated at Harvard and the Paris Institute of Political Sciences. He also has a doctorate in history from the Sorbonne. He was Lebanon’s Ambassador to the UN from 2007-2017, and last year was named the ICJ’s president.

His own direct political involvement is limited, although he was a candidate for the Lebanese premiership in 2022, finishing second to Najib Mikati. His wife, Sahar Baasiri, is the current Lebanese Ambassador to UNESCO. She was previously a journalist, including a stint as the Beirut correspondent for UPI.

Salam has a history of generally opposing internal meddling in Lebanon. He was a supporter of the Cedar Revolution, which opposed Syrian military presence in Lebanon. He has also been a consistent critic of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon and Palestine, which led to anger at his appointment as ICJ president.

He made posts on Twitter in January 2015 saying that when he and others criticize Israel, it is never because of the nation’s Jewish majority. He went on to say that portraying critics as antisemites is an attempt to intimidate and discredit them.

Salam is currently just the PM-designate, after his selection by newly elected President Aoun. He is charged with forming a majority government, which would make him officially the PM. While he reportedly has a majority of MPs supporting him, it’s not clear he’ll get them all on board for a government. The exact number of MPs backing him varies in different media reports.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are reportedly opposed to Salam, who says he doesn’t want factions such as Hezbollah to have armed organizations. Reports are that those groups preferred Mikati to remain PM.

Salam is a Sunni Muslim, in keeping with the Lebanese tradition that power is shared secularly among a Sunni premier, a Shi’ite speaker of parliament, and a Maronite Christian president. This is not a strict constitutional requirement but has been respected historically and become a de facto requirement for any candidate.

Assuming he is successful in forming a government, Salam will face numerous economic and security challenges, including the fact Israeli troops still occupy parts of southern Lebanon. And, he will be charged with the massive post-war reconstruction task that is the result of the recent conflict.