Inside the Movement to Settle Southern Lebanon

This is the title to an article from 8/19/24 in the magazine "Jewish Currents" which describes itself as being on the Israeli Left. It details the recent sharp rise in membership of a recently founded group named "Uri Tzafon" that proposes to act on long held beliefs of the far right that the cleansing of the Golan Heights while establishing settlements and leading to an annexation is the example to follow for Southern Lebanon.

While always considered a remote possibility, if at all, the group does have involvement and support from some heavyweights on the right and in the highly organized support apparatus that functions with the settler movement in the West Bank. Perhaps the most telling aspect about this group is their embrace of ethnic cleansing. It seems to be openly embraced. They in fact openly call the West Bank settlers approach and success to be less than strong since it leaves a large Palestinian population there. They reference the cleansing in the Golan and the elimination of the many Syrian villages as key to "peace".

It should be noted also that within the troubling quotes from leaders in the organization and the heavyweights are references to international response in stopping them. They openly mock the international community/UN response since literally 1948. The quote from a lawyer, Doron Nir Zvi, who helps West Bank settlers with legal filings for land takeovers is " as Nir Zvi pointed out at Uri Tzafon’s June conference, after Israel conquered the Galilee in 1948 or expanded its territory fourfold in 1967, “it’s not that it went smoothly at the UN.” However, he said, ultimately “the dogs barked, and then things moved on”—a history which teaches their movement not to “attribute too much importance to the legal aspect” as “it’s pretty much nonsense.” They have little to fear beyond words if history is a guide.

While many still feel this idea of action in southern Lebanon is not likely, most still caution that it is not new and a full paragraph of the article is most succinct: "In making such seemingly-premature plans, Uri Tzafon is betting on the idea that the rising tide of settler power will lift their boat as well, and experts say the gamble may pay off. According to Asher Kaufman, a scholar of Israel’s relationship with Lebanon, following the First Lebanon War in the 1980s, there were prominent figures pushing Israel to settle in southern Lebanon, but “back then, the settler movement had little capacity to shape politics. Now they are the masters of the land, shaping government policy large and small.” In 1982, when the idea of settlements in Lebanon was first raised, there were only about 21,000 Israelis living beyond the 1948 boundaries; today there are over 700,000 and counting. This growth, as well as in the newly ascendant movement to resettle Gaza, gives Uri Tzafon leaders a window of opportunity. As Socol told me, “since we started the movement and started to act, we’re increasingly seeing that together with talk of settlements in Gaza, settlements in Lebanon are also mentioned, even if as an aside. I think it’s tremendous growth.” Nir Zvi agreed, adding that “after October 7th, everyone understands that we have to push the enemy away and occupy his land, taking it away from him. And this means that conquering both Gaza, and Lebanon, is now possible.”

Given that Avigdor Lieberman has said "everything between the Litani [River] and Israel must be under the control of the IDF." and that Smotrich and others are openly promoting very aggressive policies it is not unreasonable to say the aims of this group may well be put forth more aggressively in the future. As a historian of the settler movement, Akiva Eldar is quoted in the article: “That’s how the settlement movement started,” said Israeli settlement historian Akiva Eldar. “They planted seeds, which grew into trees, which grew into a jungle.”

The world has been trying to grapple with navigating and/or removing that jungle for many decades now and the growth of that jungle looks to be gaining rather than receding. The barking dog hasn't bothered the trees.

https://jewishcurrents.org/inside-the-movement-to-settle-southern-lebanon-uri-tzafon-israel