Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter criticized the Trump administration on Tuesday for agreeing to establish a “deconfliction cell” to end military operations in Lebanon without Israel’s involvement as part of the ongoing peace talks with Iran, the first public statement from Jerusalem denouncing the move.

Leiter released a pair of statements in English and Hebrew at the start of the fifth round of multi-day diplomatic talks at the U.S. State Department between Israel and Lebanon, in which he warned that both parties were “heading towards a train wreck.”

The ambassador said that while the Israelis “support President Trump’s vision of ensuring that Iran no longer has nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles or the ability to funnel money to its proxies to threaten its neighbors and maintain its regional hegemony,” he worried “that the concept of ‘deconfliction’ is misplaced.”

“Israel is not in conflict with Lebanon. Therefore, deconfliction is not the issue. All that is needed is coordination with Lebanon. The only issue is Hezbollah,” Leiter said. 

In his Hebrew statement, he added that “the basic premise” of the talks out the outset “was that Iran was not involved, and the main discussion is about Lebanon and Hezbollah — not about the extent to which Iran can restrain Hezbollah. That is not Iran’s role. Its role is to get out of Lebanon.”

He went on to pose a series of questions, without specifically directing them toward the Trump administration or his Lebanese counterparts, about the aim of Israeli-Lebanese peace talks. “We agreed to a ceasefire that was conditional on Hezbollah withdrawing north. Is this agreement still binding?” he asked, referencing the parties’ agreement reached at the end of the last round of talks earlier this month. “We cannot afford commitments that fade away. And it is important to be clear: Israel will act against immediate and evolving threats to its citizens and soldiers.”

Leiter also pointed to the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, asking how to assure that the funds Iran will gain access to “do not find their way to Hezbollah? If we cannot guarantee that, then all the words we agree to here will make no difference, because Hezbollah will simply rebuild itself.”

Leiter’s statements came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back on the notion that U.S. peace talks with Iran were tied to Israeli-Lebanese normalization efforts.

“That process is separate,” the secretary of state said while arriving in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday when asked about the two efforts. “It’s separate because Lebanon is a sovereign country.”

“When it comes to Lebanon and what’s happening inside of Lebanon, we’re going to negotiate a deal directly with the Lebanese government,” he continued, making no mention of Israel.