Lebanese Christians Who Allied With Israel Are Grateful, But Remain Lonely And Scared

‘A stranger in a foreign land’

Fadi, is in his 50s and who also asked for a pseudonym, was a defector from the Lebanese army to the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia. He told JNS that he fought alongside Israelis in the 1980s towards the end of the civil war. He told his parents that he had secured a job in Dubai and concealed the fact that Israelis were training him. After the war, he moved from Israel to Canada.

“Whether I had remained in Israel or moved to the Americas, I am still a stranger in a foreign land,” he said. “Lebanon is a very sectarian society. Many of us got dragged into the conflict only because of whichever religion we were born into.”

Fadi told JNS that he has no regrets about his defection, despite his militia having been forcibly disbanded.

“Our homeland was under attack, and we only wanted to keep it safe,” he said. “Can you blame us?”

Until 2000, the IDF maintained a presence in southern Lebanon, known as the Security Belt. As other militias crumbled, the South Lebanon Army maintained control over the unrecognized state, acting as a buffer against Hezbollah.

“Even now, I can go to Israel but not my own country of birth: Lebanon,” said Fadi, who has visited relatives in Cyprus, the closest country not at war with Israel. His family subsequently moved to France.

“Sadly, even to this day, Lebanon never fixed the underlying issues that caused the war to break out in the first place,” he said.

After then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew Israeli forces in 2000, many Phalangists fled to Israel, fearing for their lives. Some of those who stayed were pardoned; some were hanged or imprisoned. Today, only Hezbollah has an official armed wing in Lebanon. Other entities, such as the Lebanese Forces, have a political wing but no official armed presence.

Oren Barak told JNS that the main reason the alliance crumbled was due to “imprudence on the part of both actors, who had unachievable goals.”

“The failure to comprehend and compromise with the various other religious and sectarian groups and factions in Lebanon is probably the biggest mistake they made,” he said. “There have been other alliances between Israel and various groups and state actors in the Middle East in recent history, but the Israeli-Lebanese Christian alliance certainly stands out in terms of its depth and impact.”