Among the surveillance soldiers, he was referred to by the nickname “Pitusi.” He was a Hezbollah terrorist who appeared in front of us, day after day, filming us while we held positions on the Lebanese border. I remember requesting permission to shoot him, and the command’s answer was clear: “Don’t shoot, he’s a known operative.” But that wasn’t the worst of it. Four months before the massacre, we watched with our own eyes as Hezbollah set up tents inside sovereign Israeli territory—and us? We were instructed to contain it and stay silent. That was the moment I understood that something in the foundations of our national security had cracked. They turned the enemy into a neighbor allowed to watch us, study us, and plan his next move while we were bound by definitions of false calm.
That surreal situation on the northern border wasn’t accidental. It was a reflection of a flawed concept: the notion that you can “manage” and contain terror. Hezbollah turned southern Lebanon into its sovereign territory, and it didn’t just arm itself; it fortified and waited for the day of command. There’s a famous saying by Clausewitz: “The line of contact will always be breached.” This is an iron law. As long as the enemy sits on our fence, the question isn’t whether he’ll break through, but only when. The massacre in the Gaza envelope communities taught us there’s no “quiet” facing terrorist organizations; there’s either containment or decisive victory. This past weekend, the State of Israel signed an agreement with the Lebanese government. This is indeed an important step, but we can’t ignore reality. Any decision that allows the Lebanese army control over territory is a decision that brings Hezbollah closer to Israel’s border and to the next October 7th, this time in the North.
So what should be done? The only entity that can and must protect Israeli citizens is the IDF, and no one else. How? Through territory. The only way to bring quiet and prosperity to the North is to distance all Lebanese from Israel’s border, at least to the Litani. It doesn’t matter if they wear Hezbollah uniforms or Lebanese army uniforms; it doesn’t matter if they’re Shiite, Sunni, Christian, or anything else. We belong to the generation of victory. We understand that we must ensure the North doesn’t become another Gaza Strip, and therefore we need to establish a new political-security fact—a sterile buffer zone to the Litani. The time has come for permanent, reality-changing actions.
1+The intention isn’t to establish another security zone like before, but to create a truly sterile space. To turn this space into a real shield, two bold decisions are required:
1. Establishing a permanent natural barrier: The Litani is the right strategic border. After months of extended maneuvering, the Engineering Corps must complete the work and establish a permanent physical barrier that clearly defines: from here on, Israel doesn’t allow a hostile presence. Creating a sterile buffer zone between the fence and the Litani, and at the northern edge a massive permanent barrier that stays here for years: a trench, deployed sensors, mines, and any element attempting to cross is destroyed. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hezbollah terrorist or a Lebanese citizen, you don’t cross.
2. Clearing the space: Unlike the security zone, this time we don’t leave any hostile settlement, Christian or Shiite, on the fence. Every settlement remaining on the fence, even if Christian, is a potential breach. Hezbollah knows how to exploit any human space to infiltrate. You can’t achieve security sterility if the space is populated, and therefore the territory must be cleared.
1+We can’t continue living in a reality where the initiative is in the enemy’s hands. Our mission is to stop reacting to threats and start shaping a reality where the enemy will never approach our fence. The time to do this is now. The window of opportunity is closing, and every action not taken today we’ll pay for in the future with the blood of many soldiers. The time has come to stop tying the fighters’ hands and order the IDF to establish the buffer zone that will serve as Israel’s border for the next hundred years. The time has come to stop deluding ourselves with fragile arrangements. A buffer zone, sterile, absolute—this is the key to victory.