Over 20 years after the border with Lebanon was closed, Israel closed a gaping hole in its history on Sunday in Metula when it dedicated a monument in memory of fallen soldiers of the South Lebanon Army (SLA).
At the ceremony, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, Metula mayor David Azulay and others thanked surviving members of the army and their families for their service and dedication to Israel and promised to better incorporate them into Israeli society.
Gantz was one of the last soldiers to leave Lebanon in 2000 and fought alongside many of the SLA commanders. Kohavi also fought in Lebanon, both in the 1982 Lebanon War and in the South Lebanon conflict from 1985 to 2000.
“The border was closed, but for you, the circle was never closed,” Kohavi said to the bereaved families in attendance. “You were born there, raised your families there, patriotically created the SLA and fought terror. I saw your dedication and your bravery up close. Our languages were different, but our values were the same. We practiced different religions but had the same mission. ”
The SLA was founded in 1976 due to the Lebanese Civil War. Led by Major Saad Haddad, they established "Independent Free Lebanon" in 1979, along with IDF support (Israel invaded southern Lebanon in 1978). The two armies fought alongside one another during the South Lebanon conflict until Israel's withdrawal in 2000.
After the withdrawal, Israel offered SLA fighters full citizenship. The Knesset finance committee also approved 40,000 shekel payments to each SLA veteran family in 2006. 2,700 of the 6,500 SLA fighters who took the offer decided to live in Israel permanently, and are concentrated in northern Israeli cities like Ma'alot Tarshiha, Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya.
But Gantz admitted that Israel had not done enough for its “brother in arms” until now. In January, when Gantz and former Minister of Strategic Affairs and Minister for civic issues within the Ministry of Defense Michal Biton (Blue and White) designated the funds for this memorial, they promised to address a housing crisis among some SLA veterans. Gantz doubled down on that promise.
“We started with former minister Michal Biton to work on the residency issue,” he said Sunday. “Now, with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, we will keep working on it until you feel at home and you will have a home.”
Representatives from both armies acknowledged that their common mission isn’t over. Hezbollah remains a threat to northern Israel as Iran continues to fund the terrorist organization.
Still, Gantz expressed hope that one day Lebanon would return to its economic prosperity.
The ceremony itself was historic. It was the first time the Yizkor prayer was recited in Arabic, as the Ministry of Defense wrote a new version of it for the fallen soldiers of the SLA.
“We will remember the fighters of the southern Lebanese army," it read, "brothers and comrades in arms, who fought from Nablus to Nablus with the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and its commanders and with the security services, and gave their lives out of the unity of fate to defend the homeland, the Lebanese mountains, to create neighborliness, brotherhood, sharing and security between the peoples who live in this mountainous region of the country, and to give protection and a supportive hand to those who sought to sow terror and cut off life."
The song HaReut (the camaraderie) by Yehoram Gaon was also sung for the first time in both Hebrew and Arabic. The IDF also unveiled a new uniform medal representing the bond between the IDF and the SLA.
This is the second Israeli monument for SLA soldiers. The first was inaugurated in May, 2000 in Marjaayoun, a Lebanese mountain city about six miles (9 kilometers) north of the current border with Lebanon. Hezbollah destroyed it two days after Israel withdrew from the territory.
“This memorial being in Israel is a symbol of the place the SLA has in this country,” Kohavi said. From now on, everyone will know who you are and what you did. Israel became your home, and Israel is faithful to those who were faithful to her.”
Gantz took the opportunity to remind Israel’s adversaries that it will do everything to protect itself on all battlefronts and hoped May’s Operation Guardian of the Walls remains a warning for anyone who wants to attack Israel.