Lebanon Virtual Jewish History Tour

Lebanon is a Middle Eastern state named after a mountain chain running parallel to the Mediterranean coast just north of Israel. The name is derived from lavan, meaning “snow covering its peaks,” and it has been variously called Levanon in Hebrew, Libnah in Phoenician, Labnanu in Assyrian, and Lablani or Niblani in Hittite. In 2020, 29 Jews were believed to be left in Lebanon.

In Ancient Times
Post-Second Temple & Arab Periods
France Takes Over
The Palestine Issue
Post 1948
A New Imbalance
Christians Versus Muslims and Palestinians
Lebanese Jews During the War
Attitude Toward Israel

In Ancient Times

According to the Torah, the northern borders of ancient Israel extended into areas that are now part of modern Lebanon. The earliest Jews living there were members of the original Israelite tribes who entered the land under Joshua’s leadership. Portions of present-day Lebanon fell within the territories allotted to the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Asher.

Yehuda Altein noted that when King Solomon set out to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, he relied on Hiram, the king of Tyre, to supply Lebanon’s renowned cedar wood. Hiram enthusiastically agreed, sending huge rafts of cedar logs down the Mediterranean coast to Jerusalem.

Like most high mountains, Mt. Lebanon was imagined in early times to have been the abode of a god, Baal Lebanon, who is sometimes identified with Hadad. Various people inhabited the area in the prehistoric period. It appears to have been eventually settled by a West Semitic population, later designated Canaanite and, in Hellenistic sources, Phoenician. The mountains of Lebanon, rich in cedars and other coniferous trees, attracted the attention of the rulers of the treeless Nile Valley at an early date. As early as the fourth dynasty, the pharaoh Snefru probably sent to Byblos for cedars, firs, pines, and other trees. For 1,500 years, the forests of Lebanon supplied Egypt with wood for shipbuilding and the construction of temples, sacred and funerary boats, and palace gates. As the mountains were denuded, the Egyptians opened more and more harbors.

From the 12^th century B.C.E. onward, the Assyrians competed with the Egyptians for the wood of Lebanon. Tiglath-Pileser I advanced into the region to obtain wood for the construction of temples to the gods Anu and Adad. In 877 B.C.E., Ashurnaṣirpal II took fir and pine trees from Lebanon back to Assyria. The devastation caused by Sennacherib among the cedars and firs is described in the Lord’s answer to Hezekiah’s prayer (II Kings 19:23). According to Isaiah, the trees of Lebanon rejoiced when Sargon of Assyria passed away (14:8).

In general, the Lebanon marks the northern boundary of the Promised Land (Deut. 1:7; 3:25; 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 9:1). Its cedars are praised as the finest of trees (I Kings 5:13) and are contrasted with the bramble in Jotham’s parable (Judg. 9:15). Isaiah praises the cypress, the plane tree, and the larch of the region (60:13). In the Song of Songs and other books of the Bible the wild animals, waters, trees, flowers, wine, and snow of the Lebanon are described in glowing terms. When Solomon built the Temple, he was supplied with cedars from Lebanon by his ally Hiram, king of Tyre (I Kings 5:15–24), who sent the logs in floats to a harbor near Jaffa (Tell Qasīla; II Chron. 2:15). The same procedure was repeated for the construction of the Second Temple, at which time the forests belonged to the king of Persia (Ezra 3:7). In Hellenistic and Roman times, the Lebanon was divided among the various Phoenician cities then largely Hellenized; it became part of the province of Syria, and from the third century a separate province, Phoenicia (Augusta Libanensis).

Post-Second Temple & Arab Periods

In post-biblical times, the forests of Lebanon continued to be exploited by the Phoenician cities in whose territories they stood for the benefit of the Hellenistic and Roman rulers. In the seventh century (the Byzantine period), the mountaineers of the region adopted the theological views of the emperor Heraclius, becoming Monothelites; the followers of this sect were called Maronites after their patriarch John Maron. They maintained their religion throughout the Arab domination.

There is scant information about the existence of Jews between the seventh and 15^th centuries, but small Jewish communities continued to exist in the area that is now Lebanon. The Arab author al-Balādhuri relates that the Caliph Mu’āwiya settled Jews in Tripoli. The Palestinian academy established its seat in Tyre in 1071. Benjamin of Tudela, in the 12^th century, relates that the Jews lived in the same area as the Druze, with whom they traded and engaged in various crafts. In crusader times, Lebanon was divided between the count of Tripoli and the king of Jerusalem, remaining in Crusader hands almost until the end of the Latin kingdom (1291).

There were also Jews living in the village districts. In the town of Deir al-Qamar in Mount Lebanon, situated halfway between Beirut and Sidon, there was a Jewish community (80 families at the beginning of the 19^th century), which engaged in agriculture and the breeding of silkworms as well as commerce, the manufacture of soap, and the extraction of some iron from the surrounding ore deposits. Some Jews also lived in villages within the direct or outlying vicinity of Deir al-Qamar (including Mukhtara, ʿAyn Qanya, ʿAyn Zaḥlata, and others). The common factor that characterized almost every one of these Jewish concentrations was their dependency on the Druze inhabitants, with whom they coexisted on friendly terms. In 1860, following the intercommunal war between the Druze and the Maronites in Lebanon, the Druze gradually abandoned the region of Deir al-Qamar. They were followed by the Jews who settled in Beirut, Aley (southeast of Beirut), and Sidon. In the interior of Lebanon, the only remaining Jewish community was in Ḥāṣbayya, on the slopes of the Hermon, where its presence was already known from the 18^th century. Most of the Jews of this town were transferred to Rosh Pinah by Baron Rothschild in 1888, but it was only in 1913 that the last three families left. The relations between the Jews and the dominant Maronite community were at times strained, and there were several blood libels. The development of modern Lebanon was accompanied by an increase in the Jewish population, most of which was of Sephardi origin. The Jews arrived in Lebanon, especially in the capital, Beirut, from Greece and Turkey, and they gradually became an important commercial factor.

France Takes Over

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, France and Great Britain divided parts of the empire into spheres of influence as negotiated in the Sykes-Picot agreement. France assumed control over Lebanon. The area differed from the rest of the Arab world because it had a mix of Muslims and Christians, with the latter in the majority. The country adopted a constitution that created a parliament with a president and a prime minister. To satisfy the political demands of the two main demographic groups, a compromise was reached whereby the president was always to be a Maronite Christian and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. As in the other nations during this time, the true ruler remained the mandatory power — in this case, France.

Neither the Muslims nor the Christians were content under French control, and strong sentiment existed for unification with Syria. Whenever unrest threatened the nation’s stability, the French would crack down and restore order.

During World War II, the Arabs sympathized more with the Axis, but were not happy when the Germans overran France and the Vichy regime took control in Lebanon. To encourage support for the Free French who were fighting under Charles de Gaulle, the Lebanese were offered independence, which they subsequently declared on November 26, 1941. Although France continued to deploy troops in the country and exert influence, British and American support for Lebanese emancipation led to a gradual erosion of France’s position, culminating in the withdrawal of all its troops at the end of 1946.

In 1923, the number of Jews in Lebanon was estimated at 3,300, and the 1932 population census registered 3,588 Jews, of whom 3,060 lived in Beirut and the rest in Sidon and Tripoli. By 1939, the number of Jews in Lebanon increased to about 6,000–7,000, and the 1944 census registered 6,261. The Jews were one of 17 formally recognized religious sects and considered an integral part of Lebanon’s multiethnic social fabric, and regarded themselves as such. Like Lebanon’s other communities, Jews served in the public administration, including the security forces. But they never had their own representative in the Lebanese parliament (there was one member of parliament allocated to Lebanon’s minorities, but he was generally a member of one of the smaller Christian communities). However, the legal, religious, and economic freedoms enjoyed by Lebanon’s Jews, which were unparalleled in the Arab Middle East, were affected by the rising tensions in Palestine and, from 1948, by the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In the wake of World War II, several institutional reforms were introduced in the Jewish community in Beirut, including the establishment of a 15-member elected community council (the Community Council of Beirut), headed by a president. This body was recognized by the Lebanese government and by the smaller Jewish communities in Sidon and Tripoli.

The Palestine Issue

Although France lost its privileged position, Lebanon remained especially close to the West and was keen to maintain good relations with the United States. This goal was complicated by American support for partition, which the Lebanese opposed both rhetorically and militarily. Nevertheless, the Jews in Lebanon did not suffer from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Not only did the Lebanese government order its security forces to protect the Jewish quarter in Beirut from attacks by pro-Palestinian activists, but political actors such as the Maronite Christian Phalanges, which maintained close ties with the Jewish community (a few Lebanese Jews even joined that organization), also positioned guards there. 

After the establishment of Israel, Lebanon sent a small force as part of the Arab invasion on May 14, 1948. During the later stages of the war, when the Israeli army occupied part of South Lebanon, the homes of several members of the small Jewish community in Sidon, numbering 200 persons, were confiscated, and Palestinian refugees were installed in them. However, the government in Beirut ordered the local police to protect the Jews in that city and facilitate their return to their homes and property.

The New York Times reported on May 26, 1948, that Lebanese police killed four people who were involved in a demonstration by Shiite Muslims against Lebanese Jews in the village of Teybe. “A Lebanese government spokesperson said the Palestine war did not alter the status of Lebanese Jews and that they were entitled to the same protection as anyone else in this country.”

On March 23, 1949, Lebanon signed an armistice agreement with Israel.

Lebanon continued to express the general Arab hostility and refused to recognize Israel, but its leaders understood that their country was too weak to risk a confrontation and therefore kept fairly tight control on Palestinian refugees and anyone else who might want to provoke an incident.

Post 1948

The number of Jews in Lebanon, estimated at 5,200 in 1948, rose in 1951 to about 9,000, of which 6,961 were Lebanese citizens and about 2,000 Jewish immigrants from Syria and Iraq. The Lebanese government allowed these immigrants to stay in the country, and some acquired Lebanese citizenship (other refugees, such as the Palestinians, were generally not naturalized). In 1950, the government even permitted Syrian and Iraqi Jews who had found sanctuary in Beirut to cross the border into Israel, under the supervision of the Israeli-Lebanese Mixed Armistice Commission (ILMAC).

Apart from the blowing up of the Alliance Israélite Universelle school in Beirut in 1950, Lebanese Jews remained unharmed in the post-1948 period. However, Arab nationalists sometimes forced Jews to donate money to the Palestinian cause. Lebanese opposition parties, particularly the Socialist Party, which was led by Member of Parliament Emile Boustani (a Maronite Christian), several times demanded that Jewish property be confiscated and that Jews be discharged from government positions. In 1952, following mounting domestic and inter-Arab pressure, the government was compelled to discharge the two Jewish officers who served in the Lebanese army, but a few Jewish officials continued to work for the government. It is noteworthy that the Lebanese authorities did not limit the freedom of movement of Jews, and, except briefly in 1954, they were free to leave and enter the country at any time (the same freedom was enjoyed by Syrian Jews who had settled in Lebanon). Jews were also permitted to sell their property and take money out of the country in unlimited amounts. At no time were there ever limitations on their means of livelihood. Most of the Lebanese Jews were merchants, and a few were officials or artisans.

In the 1950s and 60s, Egyptian President Gamal Nasser’s Pan-Arabism swept the country. It radicalized much of the Muslim population, which already was unhappy with having to share power with the Christians. The Muslims were the leading proponents of unifying with Syria because that would ensure Muslim dominance of the enlarged entity. Christians opposed the idea, fearing just that outcome.

In 1958, the murder of a prominent opposition newspaper editor provoked widespread violence. Pan-Arabists accused the Christian president and other nationalists of the crime and soon received backing from the newly formed United Arab Republic. The Lebanese government appealed for help, but found little support until the United States decided to send troops to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty. The Eisenhower administration was less concerned with Lebanon in particular than the broader threat to pro-Western Arab nations posed by Pan-Arabists.

The U.S. intervention helped stop the violence, and an agreement was negotiated between Christians and Muslims that involved the controversial President Camille Chamoun stepping down and a new power-sharing arrangement that gave the Muslims greater representation in public offices. The rebels had hoped to move Lebanon away from the West and closer to the rest of the Arab world, but they failed.

Until 1958, when Lebanon’s first civil war broke out, the number of Jews in Lebanon remained at a level of about 9,000, making Lebanon the only Arab country in which the Jewish population increased after 1948. Only after 1958 did a large-scale exodus of Jews from Lebanon begin, as a result of the political unrest in the country. Many immigrated to the U.S. and Europe, and several hundred went to Israel.

In early 1967, the number of Jews remaining in Lebanon was estimated at 5,000–6,000, but after the Arab-Israeli war in June, emigration increased and the community was reduced by about half. By then, nearly all Lebanese Jews were living in Beirut, with a few families remaining in Sidon (the community in Tripoli had ceased to exist before 1947). There were two Jewish banks in Lebanon: Safra Bank and Société Bancaire du Liban (formerly Zilkhah Bank). Only after the 1967 War were limitations imposed on non-Lebanese Jews, who were compelled to seek work permits from the authorities, and not every applicant’s request was granted. This was one of the reasons for the increase in Jewish emigration. Another reason was the partial paralysis of the Lebanese economy, particularly in the tourism industry, since Christian pilgrims no longer needed to pass through Lebanon to visit the Old City of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Some Jewish emigrants, particularly young people, went to Israel.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Beirut’s Jewish community still operated a synagogue and several communal institutions, with additional synagogues in Sidon and in the summer towns of Bhamdoun and Aley. Jewish schools continued to function in Beirut and Sidon, though many Jewish students attended Christian high schools because no Jewish institution offered a full secondary curriculum, and because French-language education was strongly preferred. Even in the Jewish schools, French was emphasized; Arabic received less attention, and Hebrew even less, though its study faced no official restrictions. The Jewish and Christian school systems largely eliminated illiteracy among Jewish youth, but only a small number pursued higher education, with most entering business instead.

By 1970, the community had decreased to about 1,000–1,800.

Maghen Abraham Synagogue 

A New Imbalance

After the civil war, the Christians and Muslims seemed to come to an understanding that their interests had to be balanced and that the country was too weak to remain independent without Western backing, but also that they could not afford to be isolated in the Arab world. As much as many Muslims wanted Lebanon to be part of the greater Arab world, they also knew that they would lose their individual power if that were to happen.

At the same time, an intense political rivalry always remained just below the surface of relations between the factions, and this rivalry only grew as it became clear that the country’s demographics were changing. According to the agreement they had reached, the proportion of Christian to Muslim representatives in the government was supposed to be 6 to 5. By the 1970s, Muslims believed the population had tilted in their favor, but the Christians refused to allow a new census that might confirm the suspicion that they were now the minority. This was a source of persistent frustration in the Muslim community.

The delicate ethnic-political balance in Lebanon began to unravel in the early 1970s. One catalyst was Black September and the influx of Palestinians into Southern Lebanon, who quickly re-created the state-within-a-state they had lost in Jordan. The intensification of the PLO’s terrorist attacks on Israel further undermined central Lebanese authority. In addition, the Muslim population was demanding a greater share of power that better reflected their majority status. In general, the Muslims were increasingly dissatisfied with the political arrangement that kept Christians in power.

That arrangement had been based on the 1930s census, which counted Christians as the majority in Lebanon. Although no new official count was allowed, no one doubted a demographic shift had occurred, which was why the Christians were determined to keep using the old census. The Christians were led by Pierre Gemayel, whose Phalange party wanted to maintain the country’s independence and the minority’s political rights.

Christians Versus Muslims and Palestinians

The ethnic, religious, and tribal divisions in Lebanon increasingly took on the appearance of a Hatfields versus McCoys-type feud in which each group accused the other of discrimination, violence, or some slight that provoked a flurry of attacks and counterattacks. The final straw in the feud occurred on April 13, 1975, when a bus carrying a group of Palestinian terrorists was attacked by the Christian Phalangists*, who had been at odds with the Palestinians. The cycle of violence quickly escalated to a civil war with Christians fighting the Palestinian and Muslim forces.

Syria had long considered Lebanon to be part of Greater Syria, and President Hafez Assad saw the fighting there as an opportunity to move toward the goal of swallowing his neighbor. Initially, the Syrians armed the Muslims and Palestinians, but then attempted to mediate a new agreement that changed some of the rules regarding the division between Christians and Muslims in the government. Thinking that the Christians were on the verge of defeat, however, militant Muslim leaders continued their campaign.

In April 1976, Assad ordered Syrian troops into the country. A few months later, thousands more invaded and seized control of most of Lebanon. The Syrians chose not to move farther south than the Litani River for fear that it would provoke Israeli intervention (and Israel had warned Assad against doing so). Retroactively, the Arab League then agreed to create an Arab Deterrent Force to maintain order in Lebanon. Only a handful of soldiers from other countries were deployed, however, and more than 30,000 Syrian troops were essentially given the Arab world’s permission to occupy Lebanon permanently. 

By the time Syria had pacified the country, Lebanon had been effectively partitioned into three regions. In the center of Lebanon, Christians predominated; in the north, the population was predominantly Sunni Muslim; and in the south, the Palestinians were joined by a concentration of Shia Muslims. Syria controlled the center and northern zones, and the PLO essentially controlled the south.

Christian leaders held out hope of expelling the Syrians and establishing a Christian state in Lebanon. Israel saw these leaders as potential peace partners and provided arms and aid to strengthen their militias. They could not keep the peace, however, and Israel soon found itself under increasing threat from Palestinian terrorists who infiltrated by land and sea from the northern border, ultimately provoking Israel to send troops into the country to root out terrorists in 1978, and then again to try to eradicate the PLO in the war that began in 1982.

Lebanese Jews During the War

During the early stages of Lebanon’s second civil war (1975–1990), and especially after the paralysis of the state’s institutions in 1975–76 and Israel’s invasion in June 1982, the majority of the country’s Jews emigrated. Those who stayed, particularly in war-torn Beirut, suffered many hardships on account of the violence that was waged in and around the Jewish quarter. The Israeli-Palestinian struggle in Lebanon, which reached its pinnacle in the 1982 War, and the struggle between armed Shi’a factions and the Israeli army in South Lebanon in its aftermath, also impinged on the local Jewish community.

By 1980, there were only about 200 Jews left in Lebanon, and by the late 1980s and early 1990s, their number had dwindled to under 100. In mid-2002, it was reported that 67 Lebanese Jews had immigrated to Israel in the 1990–2001 period. In 2004, the number of Jews remaining in Lebanon was probably not more than a few dozen. One estimate, from 2002, put their number at no more than 24, or at twice that figure, and another, from 2003, at 20. According to a 2004 report, the Jewish community in Lebanon consisted of only a few members, mostly elderly women. All of these Jews lived in Beirut and its vicinity.

Syria backed a controversial change to the Lebanese constitution in September 2004 that allowed Emile Lahoud, Lebanon’s Syrian-backed president, to remain in office. Lahoud’s term was set to end in November, but parliament amended the Lebanese constitution and extended it for another three years. Members of parliament complained that Syria was pressuring them. In response, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigned along with his government.

On September 2, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1559, declaring its support for a free and fair presidential election in Lebanon, conducted in accordance with Lebanese constitutional rules and free of foreign interference or influence. The resolution also called upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon. In a related provision, the Council called for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. To secure passage, the resolution’s sponsors removed mention of Syria, though it is the occupying power referred to. Similarly, though Hezbollah is the “militia” that is referred to, the sponsors could not mention it by name because of opposition from Council members.

The UN General Assembly asked Israel to compensate Lebanon with the sum of $856.4 million in damages caused by an oil spill during Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah. The General Assembly voted yes to a non-binding resolution on December 22, 2014, asking Israel to provide “prompt and adequate compensation” for the oil spill caused by Israeli Air Force planes bombing oil tanks near a Lebanese power plant. The subsequent spill covered the Mediterranean coastline with over 15,000 gallons of oil.

The Lebanese military erected several tall observation posts along the Israeli border in early 2016, from which they could observe Israeli military installations, portions of the security fence, civilian roads, and many kibbutzim and towns. Israeli civilians living in these areas have expressed concern that these observation towers may fall into the hands of Hezbollah during a future conflict.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri unexpectedly resigned on November 4, 2017, during a trip to Saudi Arabia, saying his life was in danger and accusing Iran of causing “devastation and chaos.” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir subsequently described Hezbollah as a “first-class terrorist organization” that should lay down its arms and respect Lebanon’s sovereignty. He accused Hezbollah of destabilizing the region, and said: “consultations and coordination between peace-loving countries and Lebanon-loving countries are underway to try to find a way that would restore sovereignty to Lebanon and reduce the negative action which Hezbollah is conducting in Lebanon.”

In early 2018, the IDF began construction of a tens-of-meters-high concrete wall along the Lebanon-Israel border to keep Hezbollah operatives from infiltrating Israeli territory. A representative from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced that the organization was closely monitoring the construction to ensure the work stays on the Israeli side of the border to prevent unnecessary tension.

Attitude Toward Israel

Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, contacts were held between Zionist leaders and some leaders of Lebanon’s Maronite community. However, from 1943, when Lebanon’s inter-communal settlement – the National Pact – was reached, the bulk of that country’s leaders, from all communities, threw in their lot with the Arab states. Thus, in the 1948 War, Lebanon participated with the other Arab states, although its army adopted a defensive strategy and declined to cross the international border with Palestine. In fact, apart from several skirmishes, its army fought only one battle against the Israeli army, in Malikiyya on June 5–6, 1948.

On March 23, 1949, an Armistice Agreement between Lebanon and Israel was signed at Rosh Ha-Nikrah / Ras al-Nakoura, fixing the former international boundary between Palestine and Lebanon as the armistice line; accordingly, Israel evacuated 14 Lebanese villages that its army had occupied during the latter phases of the fighting. From then on, the Lebanese-Israeli border was generally quiet for a period of almost 20 years: there were few serious violations of the Armistice Agreement, farmers from both countries met frequently in a friendly manner, and occasional crossings of the border by individuals were quietly solved by contacts between Israeli and Lebanese army officers, mainly through ILMAC. Israel also allowed Maronite dignitaries from Lebanon to visit their coreligionists in Israel.

This state of affairs was the result not only of Lebanon’s military weakness and the government in Beirut's general indifference towards South Lebanon, but also of the delicate balance among its communities. While some Christian activists, especially Maronites, had contacts with Israeli officials and agreed to peaceful relations with Israel, they had to take into account the desire of Lebanon’s Muslims for stronger contacts with the Arab world. In addition, nearly all Lebanese remained opposed to any settlement that would not include a solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. In the meantime, most refugees continued to live in camps, which were tightly supervised by the Lebanese security forces and were not granted Lebanese citizenship.

As a member of the Arab League, Lebanon participated in various Arab summit conferences, political propaganda, and economic campaigns against Israel, but it did not engage in military actions, not even during the 1967 War. In the wake of that conflict, Lebanon claimed that the 1949 Armistice Agreement remained in force and that ILMAC should continue to serve as the channel of communication between the two countries. But Israel held the view that the armistice regime had collapsed, and Israel’s relations with all its neighbors were based on the cease-fire resolution of June 1967.

In the war’s aftermath, a gradual deterioration of the situation along the Israel-Lebanon border began when armed Palestinian factions, whose members had previously limited themselves to fund-raising and propaganda in Lebanon, initiated armed attacks across the border. Gradually, thousands of armed Palestinian activists concentrated on the slopes of Mount Hermon, overlooking the north of Israel. On December 26, 1968, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine flew from Beirut to Athens, where they attacked an El Al plane at the city’s international airport. In retaliation, an Israeli commando unit destroyed several planes at the Beirut International Airport, sparking a severe internal crisis in Lebanon.

From that time, the question of whether or not to permit armed Palestinian attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory became a major contentious issue in the country’s political arena: While pan-Arab and Leftist movements, which were supported by the revolutionary Arab states (mainly Egypt and Syria), supported the Palestinian demand for freedom of action throughout the state and across its border, others, including several Maronite-led parties like the Phalanges, opposed it and called upon the government in Beirut to restrain the Palestinians.

By April 1969, the cabinet had to resign because of widespread internal disorder that threatened to deteriorate into full-scale civil war, and Lebanon was thrown into a political crisis that lasted for seven months. Isolated in the inter-Arab arena and strongly censured by Syria, which closed its border with Lebanon, thus effectively sealing it off from the Arab hinterland, the government in Beirut was compelled to accept Nasser’s mediation and, on November 3, 1969, the Cairo Agreement was signed between Lebanon and the PLO. The agreement sought to guarantee both the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon and the interests of the Palestinian factions: While recognizing the presence and activity of the Palestinians in Lebanon and assigning them special areas and points through which they could penetrate Israel, it forbade shooting across the border, in order not to involve Lebanon. However, the Palestinians exploited the government’s weakness. They established themselves along the entire Lebanese-Israel border, resulting in a sharp rise in the frequency of attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory. Israel retaliated by dispatching armored units into Lebanon’s territory and by shelling Palestinian positions, and the results were a general deterioration of the situation in South Lebanon and the flight of thousands of villagers, mostly Shi’a Muslims, to Beirut.

The volatile situation in Lebanon escalated further in April 1973, following an Israeli commando raid on Beirut that left several PLO leaders dead. Lebanese President Suleiman Frangieh sought to use his army to curb Palestinian military power in Lebanon and secure a substantial revision of the Cairo Agreement. However, despite specific military successes, the Lebanese government was, yet again, forced to yield to all-Arab, and mainly Syrian, pressures. Some local groups concluded from this that a confrontation with the Palestinian factions was inevitable and began to prepare for an all-out conflict.

On June 1, 1976, as the Lebanese state collapsed and faced imminent disintegration, the Syrian army entered Lebanon and sided with the pro-government camp against the opposition and the PLO. Israel, which approved the Syrian intervention on the condition that Syrian forces stay away from its border and refrain from using aircraft in Lebanon, simultaneously forged alliances with Christian militias operating near the Israeli–Lebanese frontier, effectively turning them into clients.

By the early 1980s, however, Syrian-Israeli relations had sharply deteriorated, culminating in open confrontation during the 1982 war. By that time, Israel had aligned itself with the Phalange—most prominently with Bashir Gemayel, commander of its militia, the Lebanese Forces.

In June 1982, Israeli forces moved into Lebanon to remove the threat of Palestinian attacks on its territory. Israel also hoped to expel the Palestinian factions from Lebanon and install a pro-Israeli government in Beirut. Israel was successful in attaining its first goal, and, following a siege imposed on Beirut by its army, most PLO fighters exited the city. But its second goal was effectively thwarted when President-elect Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, and an agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon on May 17, 1983, under American auspices was effectively undermined by Syria and its local allies.

The massacres perpetrated in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila by the Lebanese Forces, Israel’s ally, were a severe blow to Israel’s efforts in Lebanon and ultimately led to the resignation of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon. In the 1983–85 period, Israeli troops gradually withdrew from the areas they occupied in Lebanon. Still, they maintained a presence in the border area, where a pro-Israeli militia had been in control since Operation Litani in 1978.

In the 1985–2000 period, Israel and its local proxy, the South Lebanese Army, attempted to hold on to this border area, which they referred to as the “Security Zone,” despite incessant attacks by Lebanese factions, especially the Shi’a Hezbollah movement. However, despite the cost in lives and two large-scale operations launched by its army in Lebanon in 1993 and in 1996, Israel’s efforts there came to naught. Following mounting domestic pressures, Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanon in May 2000. Subsequently, despite several minor clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, particularly in the disputed Shebaa Farms (an area formally part of the Golan Heights but which the Shi’a movement claimed to be Lebanese territory), the Israeli-Lebanese border was more or less calm until the violent clashes of summer 2006.

Following four rounds of voting, the Lebanese parliament elected Michel Aoun as President on October 31, 2016. Aoun had previously served as a General in the Lebanese military and as the Lebanese Prime Minister from September 1988 to October 1990, after which he was exiled to France until 2005. During his inaugural address on October 31, 2016, Aoun promised his people that he would “not spare any efforts to protect Lebanon from Israel and liberate the remainder of our lands.” Aoun is sympathetic to Hezbollah, and his political party signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the group in 2006.

In May 2017, the Lebanese government canceled screenings of the blockbuster movie Wonder Woman, starring Israeli actress and former IDF soldier Gal Gadot. According to Lebanese officials, a ban on imported products from Israel applies to the film, and a significant media boycott campaign was organized against screenings. Gadot’s performance as Wonder Woman in 2016’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice did not receive the same backlash in Lebanon.

At the annual Herzliya security conference near Tel Aviv in June 2017, Israeli Air Force Major-General Amir Eshel declared that if war with Hezbollah erupted again, Israel would strike with full force from the outset. Emphasizing the air force’s unprecedented capabilities, Eshel asserted that “what the air force was able to do quantitatively in the… Lebanon war over the course of 34 days we can do today in 48–60 hours.”

The winner of the Miss Lebanon 2017 pageant was stripped of her title in August 2017, just one week after being crowned, after it was reported that she had visited Israel as part of an academic program in 2016. Amanda Hanna, the Swedish-Lebanese winner of the contest, had posted photos on social media showing her in Israel with a friend.

Israel has long hoped the Lebanese army would act against Hezbollah; however, it has been unwilling to do so. Nevertheless, Israel offered to help. “I offered assistance to them four times over the last year, including over the last week, through UNIFIL,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said during a conference on February 2, 2022. “In a targeted manner, we want to support the Lebanese army that suffers from a lack of basic supplies, and which has lost 5,000 of its soldiers recently.”

In 2022, Israel agreed to increase its natural gas exports to Egypt. Some of that gas was expected to be transferred to Lebanon. “There's a big energy crisis in Lebanon,” Energy Minister Karine Elharrar told Israel’s Army Radio. Nobody can inspect the molecules and determine whether they originally came from Israel or Egypt.

After the movie Death on the Nile, starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, was released in 2022, it was banned in Lebanon and Kuwait because she had served in the IDF. Her film Wonder Woman was also forbidden.

In August 2023, the Security Council renewed UNIFIL’s mandate for another year. Israel succeeded in persuading members to accept two key changes: allowing UNIFIL to operate independently without coordinating its activity with the Lebanese army and requiring the Lebanese government to facilitate UNIFIL’s access to any site with announced and unannounced patrols. The objective was to prevent Hezbollah interference in its operations and to give UNIFIL more freedom to monitor the group’s activities. UNIFIL still has no enforcement power, however, and it was too late to effect changes on the ground that included Hezbollah establishing positions closer to the Israeli border.

A month later, Israel revealed that Iran was building an airport in southern Lebanon, 12 miles from Israel’s northern border. Showing a satellite photo of the site, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “In the pictures, you can see the Iranian flag flying over the runways, from which the ayatollah regime plans to operate against the citizens of Israel.”

After Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel sent troops to its northern border to prevent Hezbollah from launching a similar attack. Hezbollah began launching drones and firing anti-tank missiles and mortar shells at IDF positions on the Lebanese border. Israel returned fire. Fighting escalated with Israel assassinating the leadership of the group, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. After months of absorbing aerial attacks and the forced evacuation of more than 60,000 Israelis from border communities, Israel launched a ground operation on October 1, 2024. A ceasefire was brokered on November 26, 2024.

On January 9, 2025, Joseph Aoun, the former head of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), was elected president of Lebanon. Along with the designation of International Court of Justice chief Nawaf Salam as prime minister, the new government was viewed as an indication of Hezbollah and Iran’s loss of influence.

On February 18, 2025, the IDF began withdrawing from southern Lebanon. Despite objections from the Lebanese government, Israel insisted on maintaining a more significant defensive presence along the border, with five military outposts remaining indefinitely. These outposts, staffed by company-sized units, are intended to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing a foothold.

Representatives from Israel, Lebanon, the United States, and France met on March 11, 2025, in Naqoura, on the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border, to initiate negotiations to resolve disputes and prevent renewed conflict.

Meanwhile, Israel did not cease operations in southern Lebanon, where it continued to destroy infrastructure and weapons stored by Hezbollah and to kill terrorists. According to the ceasefire agreement, the LAF was supposed to replace Israeli forces. While they did assume control over certain areas, Israel did not trust the army to dismantle all of the Hezbollah assets. 

The key to a permanent end to the war was the disarmament of Hezbollah. The Aoun government pledged to do this but was afraid to confront Hezbollah out of fear of provoking another civil war.

*The Phalange was the largest and most important Christian-Maronite party in Lebanon. Founded in 1936 by Pierre Gemayel as a vigilante youth movement dedicated to the preservation of a Christian Lebanon, it later developed into a political party with a sophisticated and elaborate organization and a quite complex concept of the Lebanese entity and its problems.

See also: Jews in Lebanon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

L.F. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, 1 (1933), 340–4; I. Ben Zvi, in: Zion, Me’assef, 2 (1927), 76–79; 4 (1930), 142–54; idem, in: Tarbiz, 3 (1931/32), 436–51; idem, Ereẓ Yisrael ve-Yishuvah (1967), index; S. Landshut, Jewish Communities in the Muslim Countries of the Middle East (1950), 54–56; E. de Vaumas, Le Liban (1954); N. Robinson, in: J. Freid (ed.), Jews in the Modern World, 1 (1962), 50–90; Pauly-Wissowa, S.V.; Press, Ereẓ, S.V. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Z. Schiff and E. Ya’ari, Israel’s Lebanon War (1984); L. Zittrain Eisenberg, My Enemy’s Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900–1948 (1994); K.E. Schulze, The Jews of Lebanon: Between Coexistence and Conflict (2001).

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Photo: Omarali85, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.