Michel Suleiman, who served as Lebanon’s president from 2008 to 2014, has defended the agreement with Israel, saying the country must be kept out of military conflicts in “service of foreign interests,” Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement carried by Lebanon’s National News Agency, Suleiman said it was “unacceptable” to accept the logic that decisions to launch wars and invite occupation could be taken “unilaterally in service of foreign interests” while efforts to end them required national consensus.

“Those who had the courage to take the decision to proceed with the framework agreement, based on the support of the majority of the Lebanese people, will not lack the same courage to annul this agreement if the other party fails to meet its commitments,” he said.