In 1998, on the second day of Passover, I deployed to Lebanon as an IDF combat soldier in the 188th Armored Brigade.
Today, 26 years later, the IDF is back in Lebanon once again. Yes, we have a supposed ceasefire with Hezbollah – but Israeli soldiers are still there, and will be for the foreseeable future.
In today’s episode of Inside Israel, I’ll explain everything you need to know about Lebanon. We’ll start in June 1982, with Operation Peace to the Galilee – a war that brought anything but peace. I’ll tell you why Israel ended up staying in Lebanon for 18 more years, until a sudden pullout in 2000, and why, over the past 45 years, we’ve entered Lebanon no less than four times.
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Along the way, I’ll share stories from my own experiences as a soldier in the South Lebanon Security Zone in the late 1990s.
I’ll also tell you why Lebanon has sometimes been referred to by Israelis as “Israel’s little Vietnam,” as well as what Israel might learn from our mistakes in Lebanon in the past, so that we don’t repeat those same mistakes in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon in the years ahead.
To learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast
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Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books