Why does Saudi Arabia fear a "unilateral Lebanese agreement" with Israel?

Lebanese sources and foreign officials told Reuters that increasing disagreement among senior Lebanese officials is hindering Saudi efforts to help Lebanon's leaders formulate a unified position on historic negotiations with Israel.

Two prominent Lebanese political sources and a knowledgeable Western official explained that the Saudi envoy to Lebanon, Prince Yazeed bin Farhan, visited Beirut last week to encourage President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to unify their position on the talks and demonstrate their unity through a tripartite meeting. The two prominent sources met with bin Farhan.

The three sources reported that arrangements for holding the meeting this week faltered as tensions escalated, following Berri's public accusation that Aoun made statements about the negotiations which he said were "inaccurate, if not worse."

No response has yet been issued to Reuters' requests for comment from Aoun's office or from the Saudi Government Communication Center. The presidency stated in a release that Aoun met Salam today, Thursday, without mentioning Berri.

A knowledgeable Gulf source, the two Lebanese sources, and the Western official explained that the motive behind Saudi intervention with Lebanese leaders is this state of instability, as well as concern about Lebanon making a hasty move towards peace with Israel.

The four sources stated that bin Farhan sought and received assurances that Hezbollah would not seek to overthrow the Lebanese government, and he warned Lebanese leaders last week that Beirut's progress towards peace with Israel should not outpace Saudi Arabia's progress.

Riyadh's long-standing firm position is that it will not sign the Abraham Accords for normalizing relations with Israel unless a roadmap leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state is agreed upon.