He also reportedly said that "Lebanon has every right to benefit from any natural resources that may be found in the waters off its coast." What particularly irked diplomatic officials in Jerusalem was that Williams' message directly contradicted a message put out by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

At a press conference earlier this month, UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky made clear the UN declined Lebanon's request to "protect the country's natural gas reserves" by demarcating its maritime border with Israel.

Shami had sent Ban a letter urging him to take action after the recent enormous find off the Haifa coast.

Nesirsky said the UN would not intervene in the matter. "Security Council Resolution 1701 does not include delineating the maritime border," Nesirky said. "We are talking about two different things - coastal waters and a disputed maritime border." The Israeli official said that the Lebanese demands on the gas fields – the latest discover at the Leviathan filed, as well as earlier ones at the Tamar and Dalit fields – are "fabricated" and a result of internal Lebanese domestic problems.

"They have no legal or cartographic basis," the officials said. Ban made his position clear, the officials complained, and then Williams came along and contradicted his position. "This is maddening because after an initial clear statement, he had a meeting and stoked the flames," A UN spokesman in New York declined to comment on the matter.

Jordana Horn contributed to this report