ByLIAT COLLINS

JUNE 5, 2026 14:30

Service in the northern sector of the IDF unit liaising with UN troops left me with a memento from the early 1980s, just before the outbreak of the First Lebanon War 44 years ago. UN personnel handed out a tongue-in-cheek certificate admitting recipients to the Order of the Sitting Duck after they came under Syrian fire while on duty.

Though worn with time, the document still evokes the French saying that the more things shift, the more they stay the same.

Exactly 44 years ago on June 5, Israel launched its campaign to stop PLO rocket and terror strikes from across the northern frontier into the Galilee. Back then the move split public opinion, as those far from Katyusha range often failed to grasp the daily strain on towns such as Kiryat Shmona. Since October 7, 2023, however, citizens nationwide recognize the urgency of sheltering from rockets and the need to treat invasion risks with full seriousness.

In 1982 Syria held sway in Lebanon and Hezbollah did not yet exist. Today the Syrian government has fallen, though its new leader may still eye influence over a fragile neighbor. Iran now directs Hezbollah, which inflicts losses even on UN peacekeepers at times.

Each morning brings fresh reports of lives lost. Hezbollah drones and rockets force northern residents into shelters repeatedly, halting routine activity for civilians as well as troops.

Israel has carried out striking actions against both Iran and Hezbollah. The 2024 pager strike crippled much of the group's leadership at once. Successive eliminations removed Hassan Nasrallah and his replacements. Strikes also removed Iran's supreme leader and key aides. Two direct confrontations with Iran demonstrated advanced intelligence and air capabilities.

Defense sales set new mark

France again moved this week to block Israeli display of offensive arms at a defense exhibition, prompting recall of last year's online joke urging firms to skip Paris and watch Israeli systems perform live over Tehran. The Defense Ministry reported this week that export totals reached a fresh peak for the fifth straight year, hitting 19.2 billion dollars in 2025.

Many Israelis feel torn between pride in military skill and grief over drone losses, often looking back to the swift triumph of the 1967 Six Day War that began 59 years ago on the same date.

That longing is natural. Israel then faced simultaneous invasion threats, halted them, and achieved a decisive win that pushed borders outward and reduced ground-attack risks.

Pre-1967 lines left hostile territory only miles from Ben-Gurion Airport and let Syrian observers on the Golan and Hermon scan much of the north. The same unit that issued the Sitting Duck certificate once kept grim images of fishermen hit by Syrian fire from overlooking heights.

Those urging withdrawals often overlook or never saw such records. The Six Day War itself stretched into the War of Attrition that ran from mid-1967 until 1970 and fed into the 1973 Yom Kippur War, another bid to remove Israel from the map.

Among echoes from earlier decades, the IDF's recent seizure of Beaufort Castle stands out. The site saw heavy fighting in 1982 and housed troops until the 2000 pullout ordered by Ehud Barak. A 2007 film portrayed the sense of exposure felt by soldiers stationed there.

Columnist Herb Keinon observed that the renewed sight of Israeli and brigade flags atop the castle recalls not the cost of staying but the cost of leaving in hopes of calm.

Accords in the 1990s, the 2000 Lebanon exit, the 2005 Gaza pullout, and even a 2022 maritime deal all failed to deliver lasting security. Each move was read by adversaries as weakness that invited further pressure. The Lebanon withdrawal helped trigger the Second Intifada and, together with the Gaza step, paved the way for the 2006 war.

The notion that concessions could purchase peace shattered on October 7, 2023, when Iranian-backed Hamas forces crossed into Israel and carried out mass atrocities.

Israeli innovation must now counter fiber-optic drones that resist jamming after earlier radio-controlled models were addressed. Netting over sites offers only temporary cover and cannot serve as a lasting fix. Rising casualties will intensify calls to withdraw, yet residents of the north also require defense. Pulling forces back because the mission is risky will not shield communities; it will expose them further.

After the prime minister signaled strikes on Beirut's Dahiya district, US President Donald Trump reportedly urged restraint in a call to the Prime Minister's Office. Similar reports surfaced last June when US pressure reportedly altered an Iran operation. Both episodes appear tied to Washington's wish for an Iran agreement that further Lebanon fighting might disrupt.

Lebanese authorities and most citizens would welcome the removal of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has imposed endless fighting, economic ruin, tunnel networks, and weapons stores on the country, much like its counterpart in Gaza. Disarming the group will require outside support beyond UN forces, regardless of any US-brokered talks.

This remains both an old struggle and a fresh one, sometimes labeled the first drone conflict or viewed here as a second war of attrition. Creative answers are needed for the threats now overhead. Yet the fiercer the attempts to weaken Israel, the stronger its defense exports become.