Gebran Bassil

Collapse of government in 2011

On 12 January 2011, the government collapsed after Bassil announced that all ten opposition ministers had resigned following months of warnings by Hezbollah that it would not remain inactive should there be indictments against the group. The New York Times suggested the resignations came after the collapse of talks between Syria and Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in Lebanon.

2017 Lebanon–Saudi Arabia dispute

Lebanon's president Aoun and some Lebanese officials including Bassil believed that the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri was made under coercion by Saudis and have claimed that the Saudis have kept him hostage.

This led Bassil to visit multiple European countries and meet with senior EU leaders to rally diplomatic support for Lebanon and it's stability. During his European tour, he met with High Representative/Vice-President of the European Union Federica Mogherini in Brussels^[5], Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu^[6], German FM Sigmar Gabriel^[7], Russian FM Sergei Lavrov^[8] and French President Emmanuel Macron^[9].

Dispute with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri

In a meeting with FPM supporters in Batroun district, Bassil accused Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri of seeking to derail a diaspora conference organized by the Foreign Ministry in Abidjan by forcing Shiite businessmen to boycott the gathering. Bassil accused Berri of threatening to have Shiite businessmen participating in the conference fired from their jobs and the bank funding the diaspora gathering closed.

Bassil’s comments were revealed in a leaked video which was broadcast by Al Jadeed local TV station. The video sparked an outcry on social media with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Berri's top political aide, blasting Bassil for crossing a red line and describing him as a "political dwarf" with sectarian motives. The leaked video also triggered a wave of street protests by the Berri's supporters, who responded by blocking a number of Beirut’s major roads and vital arteries with burning tires.

Bassil’s “thug” remark was the tip of the iceberg of long-simmering tension between the FPM and the Amal Movement that started with a decree that sought to promote a number of Army officers who has served under Aoun in the late 1980s when he was Army commander.

Comments on Israel

Bassil was criticized by many Lebanese politicians after an interview in December 2017 with Al-Mayadeen in which he stated that Lebanon does not have an ideological problem with Israel.

He also said in that interview that he was not against Israel "living in security".^[12]