I was recently reminded of a souvenir from the days of my army service in the northern branch of the IDF’s Liaison Unit to the UN Forces. It’s a certificate that UN soldiers distributed as a self-deprecating joke in the early 1980s, in the period leading up to what would become known as the First Lebanon War, which broke out exactly 44 years ago. The text certifies that the bearer “has been fired at by the Syrians whilst on duty and is hereby admitted as a member of ‘The Order of the Sitting Duck.’”
The certificate has grown quite tatty over the years, but it hasn’t faded from memory. It’s an extraordinary reminder of that French maxim “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose”: the more that changes, the more it is the same thing.
On June 5, 1982, Israel went to war in an effort to halt the terror attacks and rockets being launched by the PLO on the Galilee from over the northern border. At the time, the war was politically divisive – those not living under the threat of Katyushas didn’t always appreciate what residents of places like Kiryat Shmona and Ma’alot were going through. Today, post-October 7, 2023, everyone in Israel knows what it’s like to run for shelter in a rocket attack, and all understand that the threat of terrorist invasion has to be taken seriously.
In 1982, the Syrians controlled Lebanon and Hezbollah had not yet been created. Fast forward, the Syrian regime has collapsed (although the current president, jihadist Ahmed a-Sharaa, possibly still nurtures dreams regarding his weak Lebanese neighbor). In its place, the Islamic Republic of Iran, through its proxy Hezbollah, is the one causing casualties, including occasionally among the UN peacekeeping forces.
Israelis are again waking up every morning to the dreaded news announcement of another life tragically cut short. And it’s not just soldiers facing the lethal threat. Hezbollah is using its deadly drones along with rockets to keep much of northern Israel running in and out of shelters, paralyzing normal life.
Israel has executed extraordinary operations against Iran and Hezbollah. The September 2024 Pager Operation, material for a movie, knocked out much of the terrorist organization’s top cadre in one blow; Israel eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his bunker and then most of his successors; rid Iran and the world of arch terrorist supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and many of his followers; and the two Iran wars – Operation Rising Lion, last June, and Operation Roaring Lion at the end of February this year – showed incredible intelligence and aerial combat skills.
Israel's defense export record has been broken
When France (again) announced this week that it would bar Israel from displaying offensive weapons at a defense fair – “plus ca change, plus c’est le meme chose” and all that – I was reminded of a meme circulating on social media last year telling global defense companies to “Forget Paris” and look up and see real-time examples of what Israel has to offer on display above Tehran. Incidentally, the Defense Ministry announced this week that Israel’s all-time defense export record has been broken for the fifth consecutive year, reaching $19.2 billion in 2025.
Israelis, frustrated by the dissonance between pride in the skills of its defense forces and pain in losing soldiers in drone attacks, frequently recall the astonishing success of the Six Day War, which started exactly 59 years ago, on June 5, 1967.
The nostalgia for those heady days is understandable. Israel had faced an existential threat of invading forces from multiple fronts and had not only stopped the invasion but won an incredible victory, extending borders and distancing the threats of ground invasion.
The pre-1967 borders brought Arab-controlled lands to just 6 km. from Ben-Gurion Airport, for example, and allowed the Syrians to look out from the Hermon Mountain range and Golan Heights over most of northern Israel. The same IDF unit where I received my Certificate of the Order of the Sitting Duck was based on the shore of Lake Kinneret and had files of horrific photos of fishermen who had been shot at by Syrians on the mountains above in the bad old days.
People proposing pullbacks tend to forget those images or never knew of them. People also forget that the Six Day War, despite its name, lasted longer than a week. It morphed into the War of Attrition, which officially started in July 1967 and ended in August 1970. Clashes continued through to the 1973 Yom Kippur War – another attempt by the Arab world to erase Israel from the Middle Eastern map.
Of all the blasts from the past this week, the IDF capture of the Beaufort Castle was the most symbolic. It was the site of a particularly bloody battle in the early days of the 1982 First Lebanon War. IDF soldiers remained there until then-prime minister Ehud Barak ordered the hasty overnight retreat from southern Lebanon in 2000. Beaufort was the topic of Joseph Cedar’s eponymous 2007 movie, depicting how soldiers at the fortress outpost felt like sitting ducks.
As Jerusalem Post columnist Herb Keinon noted earlier this week, “The sight of the Israeli flag and the Golani Brigade flag once again fluttering atop the castle conjures up futility as well – but of a different kind. Not the futility of remaining in Lebanon, but the futility of believing that withdrawal would bring peace.”
The Oslo Accords of the 1990s, the 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the disengagement from Gaza in 2005 – none of these created peace and security. Add to that list Yair Lapid’s futile attempt to stave off Hezbollah attacks by handing over maritime territory, including potential gas reserves, in October 2022, at the end of his short term as prime minister.
Every pullback has been seen by our enemies as a victory and has given them a taste for more. The 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon arguably was a major factor in sparking the Second Intifada that year and, combined with the Gaza disengagement in 2005, ultimately led to the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
The idea of “buying” peace collapsed altogether for Israelis on October 7, 2023, with the Iranian-sponsored, Hamas-led invasion and mega-atrocities.
Israeli ingenuity and technology need to find an answer to the new drone threat. After Israel found good solutions to the radio-operated drones, the terrorist organization began using relatively cheap, fiber-optic-guided drones, which cannot be electronically jammed. Currently, the main protective measure seems to be covering potential targets with netting – obviously, not a viable solution.
As the number of fallen soldiers rises, so will the calls for a pullback increase. But it should be recognized that the residents of the North need protection, too. Removing soldiers because it’s too dangerous for them will not help defend the North. On the contrary.
On Monday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel’s intent to strike targets in Beirut’s Dahiya neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold, US President Donald Trump reportedly called the Prime Minister’s Office with a resounding message that could be summed up as “Don’t.”
It was reminiscent of reports that Trump ordered IAF planes to divert during a strategic operation on Iran at the end of last June’s war with Iran. The two incidents involving separate targets in different destinations might be related. Trump seems keen to make progress on a deal with Iran, which an escalation of the war in Lebanon could impede.
I’m also reminded of the Iranian anti-regime protesters who were mowed down as they called for help from the US, which failed to arrive. The Lebanese government and the majority of the Lebanese people would be happy to see the end of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has been dragging the country into endless conflict at huge economic and human cost, building terror tunnels and stockpiling arms like their ugly sibling Hamas in Gaza.
To truly disarm Hezbollah, the Lebanese government needs help – and don’t expect it to come from the UN and its forces there, whatever results the US-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon produce.
This is an old war and a new one. Some are calling it the First Drone War. I think of it as the Second War of Attrition. It requires creative solutions for the new threats that hover over us. But the harder our enemies try to bring us down, the higher those defense exports soar.