SOUTH LEBANON - In a new violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and UN Resolution 1701, photos have circulated showing right-wing Zionists belonging to the “Uri Hatzvon” movement raising a banner on December 8 that read “Lebanon is ours.” 

The Israeli army radio has confirmed that these settlers: “crossed several meters across the Blue Line” in the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras.

In the early summer of 2024, Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, explicitly called for the occupation of southern Lebanon if Hezbollah continued to support the Palestinian resistance movement.

Then, on September 24, the Jerusalem Post published an article claiming that Lebanon was “part of the Promised Land of Israel that God will soon return to Israel.” The article was deleted later as it widely angered foreign readers amidst the rising civilian casualties in Lebanon as a result of US-led Israeli aggression. 

The article highlighted the Jewish Rabbi Shai Tahan’s question of “where the northern border of the Land of Israel should be religiously located,” and whether Israel is “obligated to conquer the areas included in the divine promise to Israel or are those areas outside its borders?”

The Jerusalem Post also published another report in which Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh claimed that God “has given the current Israeli generation the ability to receive the gift again and to conquer and settle Lebanon.”  

In turn, Haaretz published a report confirming that “often, religious illusions in Israel quickly turn into state policy.” Besides, the newspaper conducted various opinion polls on the extent of support for establishing settlements in Lebanon.

During the recent US-led Israeli aggression, Uri Hatzvon called for exploiting the war on Hezbollah to “occupy Lebanon.” In the middle of its flag is a cedar tree framed by the Star of David. 

According to Eliyahu Ben Asher, one of the founders, the movement was launched on April 12, 2024, with the aim of convincing the Israelis that “Lebanon is a Jewish homeland as a first step to the borders of Turkey in the north, and the Euphrates in Iraq in the east.” 

Uri Hatzvon has become active after the killing of soldier Yisrael Sokol in Gaza, on January 22, 2024, who strongly promoted that Lebanon is “part of the promised land, Greater Israel.” Sokol was killed along with 23 other soldiers when the Palestinian resistance blew up two booby-trapped buildings. 

According to his friend Eliyahu Ben-Asher, Sokol’s dream was establishing Israeli settlements in Lebanon. His family has engraved on his tombstone: “Gaza has seen you from the shadow of Lebanon’s cedars.” 

Ben-Asher adds: “For Sokol, the war was not against terror, or for the sake of the house, but rather a war to return the lands of Israel to its indigenous inhabitants. He always believed that victory meant taking land from the enemy in Gaza, in Lebanon and on the Temple Mount.” 

Uri Hatzfon organized its first virtual conference, on June 17, 2024, to ensure the participation of various Zionists from all over the world. Among the attendees were: Hagai Ben Artzi, Sara Netanyahu’s brother; Amid Cohen, an IDF reserve officer and the executive director of the Tikva Foundation that runs Talmudic educational projects; Judith Katzber, who advocates for the occupation of the West Bank; Daniela Weiss, head of the Nahala settlement movement and leader of the settlement movement in the Gaza Strip. 

Several Zionist rabbis also joined the movement, most notably Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, who promotes Talmudic ideas that have become part of Netanyahu’s political hegemonic plans, which are in harmony with Trump’s blatant statement: “Israel is small and its borders must be expanded.

Currently, the Israeli occupation has given the Talmudic name “Arrow of Bashan” to the US-led aggression against Syria, during which it has taken control of the Syrian buffer zone, in violation of the disengagement agreement signed in 1974. It has also occupied strategic sites on Mount Hermon. 

“Arrow of Bashan” refers to the area located in southern Syria. According to the Talmudic myth, the origin of the king of Bashan is from the Rephaim (Canaanite Amalekites), who are ancient Semitic peoples who settled in the area since the 12th century BCE. 

Following the ongoing aggression on Gaza, Netanyahu cited Talmudic texts to justify his genocidal crimes, especially during his speech at the United Nations. This has coincided with a prevailing Talmudic belief among the colonial settlers who are conducting the last war before the coming of their alleged Messiah: “We are approaching truly great days, and only the Messiah can replace Netanyahu.”

In one of his speeches to soldiers, Netanyahu said: “Remember what the Amalekites did to you.” The Amalekites is a tribe of nomads who inhabited the Sinai Peninsula and southern Palestine.  According to Talmudic doctrine, the term Amalek means the height of physical and spiritual evil.