Lebanon, in its statement at the General Assembly session on the Secretary General's Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism on February 16, 2016, claimed that "foreign occupation" - meaning Israel - caused violent extremism. In its words:
"My delegation would like to stress the following: Addressing root causes, drivers, political grievances, or whatever we want to call them, of violent extremism, is crucial: foreign occupation ... and impunity, tend to create fertile ground for violent extremism."