The security zone the IDF established in southern Lebanon consists mainly of Shiite towns and villages, but it also includes several significant Christian communities with an estimated 20,000 Lebanese Christians. Recently, against the backdrop of dramatic developments in the area, Christian community leaders approached IDF representatives and asked that Israel annex their villages and grant residents Israeli citizenship.
1+It’s an extremely sensitive issue, since Hezbollah’s propaganda apparatus consistently claims Israel seeks to control the territories the IDF entered in Lebanon indefinitely. Against this backdrop, the Christian leaders were told annexation is off the table, as it contradicts the memorandum of understanding reached with the government in Beirut, under American auspices, and Israel’s commitment that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanese territory. Still, the Christians were assured the IDF would protect them as needed from Hezbollah and the Shiite population in the area.
1+From Israel’s perspective, despite the sensitivity, there’s also a positive aspect to this appeal, as it demolishes the blood libel that the IDF is deliberately acting to harm the Christian population in Lebanon on religious grounds—a story spread recently mainly among antisemitic elements in the Christian right in the United States. Either way, until Hezbollah disarms, Israel intends to remain in southern Lebanon, and the Shiite terror organization, which brands itself as “Lebanon’s shield,” is currently the only reason Israeli soldiers are present on the country’s soil.