Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Lebanon - Revision history

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{{short description|'''The Lebanese Jewish community and the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the 1982 invasion and Sabra and Shatila, the occupation and the South Lebanon Army, Israeli espionage, the 2024 pager attack and war, the 2022 maritime deal and the 2025–26 talks'''}}

'''Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Lebanon''' are dominated by war and occupation. ''The Guardian'' wrote in 2010 that the two neighbours had "been in a state of war for more than 60 years".<ref name="Guardian2010">Ian Black, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/30/lebanon-arrests-suspected-israeli-spy Lebanese phone firm manager accused of spying for Israel] ''The Guardian'', 30 June 2010.</ref> "Israel" invaded in 1982, occupied a self-declared "security zone" in the south through its proxy, the [[South Lebanon Army]], until May 2000, and has fought repeated wars with [[Hezbollah]], most recently in 2023–24 and again from March 2026.<ref name="CRSSLA">Joshua Ruebner, [https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RS20566.html The South Lebanon Army (SLA): History, Collapse, Post-Withdrawal Status] ''Congressional Research Service'', RS20566, 10 June 2000.</ref><ref name="CRS2026">Christopher M. Blanchard, Jeremy M. Sharp, Clayton Thomas and Jim Zanotti, [https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48887.html U.S. Conflict with Iran] ''Congressional Research Service'', R48887, updated 18 September 2026.</ref> A small Jewish community of between 70 and 100 people remains,<ref name="IRFLB">US Department of State, [https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/lebanon/ 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Lebanon] ''US Department of State'', 2024.</ref> nearly all of them in Beirut.<ref name="WJCLB">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/LB Community in Lebanon] ''World Jewish Congress'', accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

==Jewish community and religious life==
===History===
The [[World Jewish Congress]] says Jews have lived in Lebanon since ancient times. In the first half of the 20th century the community grew with immigrants from Greece and Turkey, and later from Syria and Iraq. Before 1976 there were two Jewish schools and two synagogues in Beirut, and a school in Sidon. The WJC says that nearly all the remaining Jews are in Beirut and cannot practise Judaism openly, and that a committee represents them.<ref name="WJCLB" /> According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', the community once numbered 22,000, and Judaism is still an officially recognised religion.<ref name="LAT2009">''Los Angeles Times'', [https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/babylon-beyond/story/2009-08-04/lebanon-quietly-jewish-community-begins-synagogue-renovation LEBANON: Quietly, Jewish community begins synagogue renovation] ''Los Angeles Times'', 4 August 2009.</ref> Writing in ''Foreign Affairs'', Adam Rasmi noted that, unlike most Arab states, Lebanon saw its Jewish community grow through most of the 1950s.<ref name="FA2014">Adam Rasmi, [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/lebanons-jewish-revival Lebanon's Jewish Revival] ''Foreign Affairs'', 14 October 2014.</ref>

===Jewish Community Council===
The US State Department cites the Jewish Community Council's estimate of between 70 and 100 Jews. The government has again failed to approve the council's change of name from the Israelite Communal Council, and the Ministry of Interior has delayed verifying its 2020 election. The council has stopped importing religious material because of the ban on Israeli goods. A 2011 lawsuit over the Jewish cemetery in Tripoli is still pending.<ref name="IRFLB" /> In 2014 the council was led by Isaac Arazi.<ref name="FA2014" />

'''How far is it Zionist?''' No source reviewed links the Jewish Community Council to any Zionist body. Lebanon has a national ban on trade in Israeli goods, and the council stopped importing religious material because customs agents were wary of anything in Hebrew script.<ref name="IRFLB" /> [[Hezbollah]] endorsed the synagogue restoration, and a spokesman said, "We have an issue with Israel's occupation of land", not with Jews.<ref name="LAT2009" />

===Maghen Abraham synagogue===
The Maghen Abraham synagogue in Wadi Abu Jamil, Beirut, was built in 1925. It was abandoned in 1976, a year after the civil war began.<ref name="AlMonitor2015">Ash Gallagher, [https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2015/05/lebanon-israel-beirut-jew-synagogue-coexistence-palestine.html Lebanon's last synagogue] ''Al-Monitor'', 15 May 2015.</ref> ''Foreign Affairs'' reports that in 1982 the [[Israel Defense Forces]] shelled the synagogue, leaving a hole in the roof.<ref name="FA2014" /> Restoration began in 2009. It was funded by private Jewish donors abroad, many of Lebanese descent, and by a $150,000 gift from [[Solidere]].<ref name="LAT2009" /> According to ''Foreign Affairs'', the Lebanese Jewish diaspora, including the [[Safra family]], led the fundraising.<ref name="FA2014" />

===Chabad===
No Chabad emissary or centre was found in Lebanon.
:''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia]]''
The [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] lists no rabbi for Lebanon.<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ The Rabbis] ''rabbisalliance.org'', accessed 20 October 2026 (partisan).</ref>

==Zionist movement and advocacy==
No Zionist organisation operating openly in Lebanon was found. In 2010 President [[Michel Suleiman]] endorsed calls for the death penalty for anyone convicted of spying for "Israel" (see below).<ref name="Guardian2010" /> The closest Lebanese allies of the Zionist entity were the Christian militias it armed from 1976 and the [[South Lebanon Army]] (see below).<ref name="SIPRILB">Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, [https://armstransfers.sipri.org SIPRI Arms Transfers Database], trade registers, Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, generated 20 October 2026 (library copy).</ref>

==Israeli state and commercial ties==
===1982 invasion===
In June 1982 "Israel" launched "Operation Peace for Galilee", an invasion first meant to destroy the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) in southern Lebanon. According to the US Congressional Research Service (CRS), "Israel" then widened its aims to installing a Lebanese government willing to sign a peace treaty. Heavy casualties and criticism led it to withdraw from most of Lebanon in 1985.<ref name="CRSSLA" />

===Sabra and Shatila and the Kahan Commission===
The Israeli commission of inquiry under [[Yitzhak Kahan]] found that the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila camps in September 1982 was carried out by a [[Phalange|Phalangist]] unit, whose entry into the camps was known to "Israel". It found that no Israeli was directly responsible, but that "Israel" bore indirect responsibility because the IDF held the area. It found that the defence minister, [[Ariel Sharon]], "bears personal responsibility", and recommended that he "draw the appropriate personal conclusions". If necessary, the prime minister should consider using his power to remove a minister under Section 21-A(a) of the Basic Law: the Government. The commission found the prime minister, [[Menachem Begin]], responsible for not being more involved and aware. Citing IDF intelligence, it put the number of victims at between 700 and 800, and noted that the Red Cross counted 328 bodies.<ref name="Kahan">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://syriaaccountability.org/content/images/wordpress/ISRAELMFA_Commission-Inquiry-Beirut_1983_EN.pdf Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the events at the refugee camps in Beirut, 8 February 1983] ''Israel's Foreign Relations, Selected Documents'', vol. 8, 1982–1984, document 104 (library copy) (partisan).</ref>

===Occupation and the South Lebanon Army, 1985–2000===
After 1985 "Israel" occupied about 10% of Lebanon, a nine-mile-deep "security zone". According to the CRS, in 1985 "Israel" officially set up the [[South Lebanon Army]] (SLA) there as an allied militia "that it fully funded and equipped". The SLA grew out of [[Saad Haddad]]'s "Free Lebanon" forces, made up of soldiers who broke away from the Lebanese army in 1978. Under General [[Antoine Lahad]] it had between 2,500 and 3,000 fighters. The IDF suffered about 250 deaths in the zone between 1985 and April 2000. [[Ehud Barak]] pledged in 1999 to withdraw within a year. "Israel" withdrew in May 2000, the SLA collapsed, and about 1,500 SLA members and their families, about 7,000 people in all, fled to "Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" /> On 16 June 2000 the UN Secretary-General, [[Kofi Annan]], said the UN force in Lebanon ([[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|UNIFIL]]) had confirmed that "Israel has withdrawn from the country, in full compliance with Security Council resolution 425 (1978)".<ref name="UNIS2000">United Nations Information Service, [https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2000/sg2595.html Secretary-General Receives Confirmation from UNIFIL of Full Withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon] ''UNIS Vienna'', SG/2595, 16 June 2000.</ref>

===Arms supplies===
The SIPRI register records second-hand Israeli weapons, mostly given as aid, to two Lebanese clients. Militias that formed the [[Lebanese Forces]] (the Kataeb Regulatory Forces, the Tigers Militia and the Guardians of the Cedars) received 40 M-50 Super Sherman tanks in 1976, and in 1987 18 T-54 tanks, 18 BTR-60P armoured vehicles and 18 BS-3 100mm guns. The SLA received 35 M-50 tanks in 1976 and, between 1985 and 1996, M-113 and BTR-50 armoured vehicles, Tiran tanks, D-30, Model-50 and M-46 guns, and 20 M-66 160mm self-propelled mortars.<ref name="SIPRILB" />

===Espionage===
In 2010 Lebanese security forces arrested Charbel Qazzi, a manager at the mobile network Alfa. Beirut media said he had worked for the [[Mossad]] for 15 years and that his information let "Israel" locate and kill people during the 2006 war. [[Hassan Nasrallah]] called for spies to be hanged.<ref name="Guardian2010" /> ''Al Jazeera'' reported that up to 70 suspected spies were arrested in 2009 and 2010. It said Qazzi confessed to handing network passwords to the Israelis and said the Mossad had first contacted him in the 1990s.<ref name="AJ2011">Nour Samaha, [https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/12/2/lebanons-intelligence-war Lebanon's intelligence war] ''Al Jazeera'', 2 December 2011.</ref> No source reviewed documents a specific operation by [[Unit 8200]] in Lebanon. [[Citizen Lab]] listed Lebanon among 45 countries with suspected infections by [[NSO Group]]'s Pegasus spyware, linked to an operator it called KINGDOM, with a Saudi focus, and to one it called MIDDLE.<ref name="CLHide">Citizen Lab, [https://citizenlab.ca/research/hide-and-seek-tracking-nso-groups-pegasus-spyware-to-operations-in-45-countries/ Hide and Seek: Tracking NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware to Operations in 45 Countries] ''The Citizen Lab'', 18 September 2018 (critical).</ref> In 2021 Citizen Lab reported that Microsoft had found at least 100 victims of spyware from the Israeli firm [[Candiru]], in countries including Lebanon. The victims included human rights defenders, journalists, activists and politicians.<ref name="CLCandiru">Citizen Lab, [https://citizenlab.ca/2021/07/hooking-candiru-another-mercenary-spyware-vendor-comes-into-focus/ Hooking Candiru: Another Mercenary Spyware Vendor Comes into Focus] ''The Citizen Lab'', 15 July 2021 (critical).</ref>

===2024 pager attack===
On 17 September 2024 pagers used by [[Hezbollah]] members exploded across Lebanon. ''Al Jazeera'' reported that among the dead was a ten-year-old girl. Iranian media said the Iranian ambassador was injured.<ref name="AJ2024">Justin Salhani, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/chk_exploding-pagers-psychological-warfare-israels-attack-on-hezbollah Exploding pagers, psychological warfare: Israel's attack on Hezbollah] ''Al Jazeera'', 18 September 2024.</ref> A similar attack on walkie-talkies followed. Lebanese officials said the two attacks killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400. In November 2024 the office of [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] confirmed that he had approved the pager operation.<ref name="DW2024">Deutsche Welle, [https://www.dw.com/en/israels-pm-acknowledges-approval-of-hezbollah-pager-attack/live-70756896 Israel's PM acknowledges approval of Hezbollah pager attack] ''DW'', 11 November 2024.</ref>

===2024 war and ceasefire===
After nearly a year of cross-border fire that began after the 7 October 2023 attack, "Israel" stepped up its bombing in late September 2024 and invaded southern Lebanon. A ceasefire announced by "Israel", France and the United States took effect on 27 November 2024. Under its terms "Israel" was to withdraw its troops from the south over 60 days. Hezbollah fighters and weapons were to leave the area south of the Litani River, and the Lebanese army was to replace them.<ref name="BBC2024">Ido Vock, [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mze4pzdnlo Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire comes into effect] ''BBC News'', 27 November 2024.</ref> A week later the Lebanese health minister, Firass Abiad, said 4,047 people had been killed and 16,638 wounded. A US-chaired committee was set up to monitor the truce.<ref name="RTE2024">RTÉ News, [https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/1204/1484649-lebanon-middle-east/ Ceasefire 'holding' in Lebanon as death toll passes 4,000] ''RTÉ'', 4 December 2024.</ref>

===2022 maritime deal===
In October 2022 Lebanon and "Israel" agreed a maritime border, brokered by the US energy envoy [[Amos Hochstein]]. The deal largely follows "Line 23". It gives "Israel" full rights to the [[Karish gas field]] and Lebanon full rights to the Qana prospect, but "Israel" gets a share of royalties from Qana through a side agreement with the Block 9 operator, [[Total]].<ref name="AJ2022">Federica Marsi, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/14/what-to-know-about-the-israel-lebanon-maritime-border-deal The Israel-Lebanon maritime border deal explained] ''Al Jazeera'', 14 October 2022.</ref> The London-based [[Energean]] began production at Karish.<ref name="BBC2022">Raffi Berg, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63414872 Israel-Lebanon gas field deal staves off war threat] ''BBC News'', 27 October 2022.</ref>

===Talks, 2025–26===
On 3 December 2025 civilian envoys from Lebanon and "Israel" joined the US-chaired ceasefire committee in Naqoura. ''Al Jazeera'' described these as the first direct talks between the two countries in more than four decades. Lebanon named Simon Karam, a former ambassador to Washington, to sit alongside the US envoy [[Morgan Ortagus]]. The prime minister, [[Nawaf Salam]], said the talks were not peace talks and that "normalisation is tied to a peace process". At that time "Israel" still kept troops in five areas of the south and kept up air strikes.<ref name="AJ2025">Caolán Magee, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/3/lebanon-and-israel-hold-first-direct-talks-in-40-years-as-war-fears-rise Lebanon and Israel hold first direct talks in 40 years as war fears rise] ''Al Jazeera'', 3 December 2025.</ref> The US Embassy named Uri Resnick as the Israeli civilian participant.<ref name="USEmb2025">US Embassy Beirut, [https://lb.usembassy.gov/pentalateral-members-convene-for-14th-meeting-civilian-participants-added-to-enhance-stability-and-success/ Pentalateral Members Convene for 14th Meeting; Civilian Participants Added to Enhance Stability and Success] ''US Embassy in Lebanon'', 3 December 2025 (partisan).</ref>

On 2 March 2026, during the US–Israeli war with Iran, Hezbollah began firing into northern "Israel", which led to large-scale Israeli operations. According to the CRS, a US-brokered "Trilateral Framework" of June 2026 involving "Israel" and Lebanon envisaged "the progressive redeployment of Israeli forces out of Lebanon 'pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups'". As of September 2026 "Israel" occupied about 5% of Lebanon. The operations reportedly displaced more than 1 million people, of whom about 360,000 were still displaced in August.<ref name="CRS2026" />

===Trade and boycott===
Lebanon bans Israeli goods.<ref name="IRFLB" /> The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics country trade table does not list Lebanon.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (partisan).</ref>

==Migration and aliyah==
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Lebanese-born immigrants to "Israel" as 235 in 1948–51, 846 in 1952–60, 2,208 in 1961–71, 564 in 1972–79, 179 in 1980–89, 87 in 1990–99 and 121 in 2000–2020.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024 (partisan).</ref> The [[World Jewish Congress]] gives a total of 4,062 Lebanese Jews who emigrated to "Israel" after 1948.<ref name="WJCLB" /> Many went elsewhere: the ''Los Angeles Times'' put the diaspora that lives between Lebanon and other countries at 2,000.<ref name="LAT2009" /> When the [[South Lebanon Army|SLA]] collapsed in 2000, about 7,000 SLA members and family members fled to "Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" />

==Political interference==
According to the CRS, "Israel" widened its 1982 war aims to "installing a Lebanese government amenable to signing a peace treaty with Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" /> The CRS writes that Israeli aims in 2026 may include pressing Lebanon's government and army "to marginalize Hezbollah".<ref name="CRS2026" />

No credible sourced link between [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and Lebanon was found, so this page has no Epstein section.

==See also==
*[[Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia]]
*[[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]]
*[[Lebanese Foundation for Peace]]
*[[Zionist Movement|Zionist movement]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iran]]
*[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Jordan]]

==External links==
*[https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2000/sg2595.html UN Secretary-General statement on the Israeli withdrawal, 16 June 2000]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Zionist movement|Lebanon]]
[[Category:Lebanon]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:38, 22 October 2026
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		+	{{Zionist movement sidebar}}
	{{short description\|'''The Lebanese Jewish community and the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the 1982 invasion and Sabra and Shatila, the occupation and the South Lebanon Army, Israeli espionage, the 2024 pager attack and war, the 2022 maritime deal, the 2025–26 talks, the 2026 security zone and settlement campaigns'''}}		{{short description\|'''The Lebanese Jewish community and the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the 1982 invasion and Sabra and Shatila, the occupation and the South Lebanon Army, Israeli espionage, the 2024 pager attack and war, the 2022 maritime deal, the 2025–26 talks, the 2026 security zone and settlement campaigns'''}}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{short description|'''The Lebanese Jewish community and the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the 1982 invasion and Sabra and Shatila, the occupation and the South Lebanon Army, Israeli espionage, the 2024 pager attack and war, the 2022 maritime deal and the 2025–26 talks'''}}
+{{short description|'''The Lebanese Jewish community and the Maghen Abraham synagogue, the 1982 invasion and Sabra and Shatila, the occupation and the South Lebanon Army, Israeli espionage, the 2024 pager attack and war, the 2022 maritime deal, the 2025–26 talks, the 2026 security zone and settlement campaigns'''}}
 '''Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Lebanon''' are dominated by war and occupation. ''The Guardian'' wrote in 2010 that the two neighbours had "been in a state of war for more than 60 years".<ref name="Guardian2010">Ian Black, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/30/lebanon-arrests-suspected-israeli-spy Lebanese phone firm manager accused of spying for Israel] ''The Guardian'', 30 June 2010.</ref> "Israel" invaded in 1982, occupied a self-declared "security zone" in the south through its proxy, the [[South Lebanon Army]], until May 2000, and has fought repeated wars with [[Hezbollah]], most recently in 2023–24 and again from March 2026.<ref name="CRSSLA">Joshua Ruebner, [https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RS20566.html The South Lebanon Army (SLA): History, Collapse, Post-Withdrawal Status] ''Congressional Research Service'', RS20566, 10 June 2000 (US Congress-side).</ref><ref name="CRS2026">Christopher M. Blanchard, Jeremy M. Sharp, Clayton Thomas and Jim Zanotti, [https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48887.html U.S. Conflict with Iran] ''Congressional Research Service'', R48887, updated 18 September 2026 (US Congress-side).</ref> A small Jewish community of between 70 and 100 people remains,<ref name="IRFLB">US Department of State, [https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/lebanon/ 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Lebanon] ''US Department of State'', 2024.</ref> nearly all of them in Beirut.<ref name="WJCLB">World Jewish Congress, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/LB Community in Lebanon] ''World Jewish Congress'', accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 On 2 March 2026, during the US–Israeli war with Iran, Hezbollah began firing into northern "Israel", which led to large-scale Israeli operations. According to the CRS, a US-brokered "Trilateral Framework" of June 2026 involving "Israel" and Lebanon envisaged "the progressive redeployment of Israeli forces out of Lebanon 'pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups'". As of September 2026 "Israel" occupied about 5% of Lebanon. The operations reportedly displaced more than 1 million people, of whom about 360,000 were still displaced in August.<ref name="CRS2026" />
 ===Trade and boycott===
 Lebanon bans Israeli goods.<ref name="IRFLB" /> The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics country trade table does not list Lebanon.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>
 ==Migration and aliyah==
@@ Line 69: / Line 80: @@
 *[[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]]
 *[[Lebanese Foundation for Peace]]
 *[[Zionist Movement|Zionist movement]]
 *[[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iran]]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 No Chabad emissary or centre was found in Lebanon.
 :''Main article: [[Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia]]''
-The [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] lists no rabbi for Lebanon.<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ The Rabbis] ''rabbisalliance.org'', accessed 20 October 2026 (partisan).</ref>
+The [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] lists no rabbi for Lebanon.<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ The Rabbis] ''rabbisalliance.org'', accessed 20 October 2026 (Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States-side).</ref>
 ==Zionist movement and advocacy==
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 ===Sabra and Shatila and the Kahan Commission===
-The Israeli commission of inquiry under [[Yitzhak Kahan]] found that the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila camps in September 1982 was carried out by a [[Phalange|Phalangist]] unit, whose entry into the camps was known to "Israel". It found that no Israeli was directly responsible, but that "Israel" bore indirect responsibility because the IDF held the area. It found that the defence minister, [[Ariel Sharon]], "bears personal responsibility", and recommended that he "draw the appropriate personal conclusions". If necessary, the prime minister should consider using his power to remove a minister under Section 21-A(a) of the Basic Law: the Government. The commission found the prime minister, [[Menachem Begin]], responsible for not being more involved and aware. Citing IDF intelligence, it put the number of victims at between 700 and 800, and noted that the Red Cross counted 328 bodies.<ref name="Kahan">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://syriaaccountability.org/content/images/wordpress/ISRAELMFA_Commission-Inquiry-Beirut_1983_EN.pdf Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the events at the refugee camps in Beirut, 8 February 1983] ''Israel's Foreign Relations, Selected Documents'', vol. 8, 1982–1984, document 104 (library copy) (partisan).</ref>
+The Israeli commission of inquiry under [[Yitzhak Kahan]] found that the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila camps in September 1982 was carried out by a [[Phalange|Phalangist]] unit, whose entry into the camps was known to "Israel". It found that no Israeli was directly responsible, but that "Israel" bore indirect responsibility because the IDF held the area. It found that the defence minister, [[Ariel Sharon]], "bears personal responsibility", and recommended that he "draw the appropriate personal conclusions". If necessary, the prime minister should consider using his power to remove a minister under Section 21-A(a) of the Basic Law: the Government. The commission found the prime minister, [[Menachem Begin]], responsible for not being more involved and aware. Citing IDF intelligence, it put the number of victims at between 700 and 800, and noted that the Red Cross counted 328 bodies.<ref name="Kahan">Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [https://syriaaccountability.org/content/images/wordpress/ISRAELMFA_Commission-Inquiry-Beirut_1983_EN.pdf Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the events at the refugee camps in Beirut, 8 February 1983] ''Israel's Foreign Relations, Selected Documents'', vol. 8, 1982–1984, document 104 (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>
 ===Occupation and the South Lebanon Army, 1985–2000===
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 ===Talks, 2025–26===
-On 3 December 2025 civilian envoys from Lebanon and "Israel" joined the US-chaired ceasefire committee in Naqoura. ''Al Jazeera'' described these as the first direct talks between the two countries in more than four decades. Lebanon named Simon Karam, a former ambassador to Washington, to sit alongside the US envoy [[Morgan Ortagus]]. The prime minister, [[Nawaf Salam]], said the talks were not peace talks and that "normalisation is tied to a peace process". At that time "Israel" still kept troops in five areas of the south and kept up air strikes.<ref name="AJ2025">Caolán Magee, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/3/lebanon-and-israel-hold-first-direct-talks-in-40-years-as-war-fears-rise Lebanon and Israel hold first direct talks in 40 years as war fears rise] ''Al Jazeera'', 3 December 2025.</ref> The US Embassy named Uri Resnick as the Israeli civilian participant.<ref name="USEmb2025">US Embassy Beirut, [https://lb.usembassy.gov/pentalateral-members-convene-for-14th-meeting-civilian-participants-added-to-enhance-stability-and-success/ Pentalateral Members Convene for 14th Meeting; Civilian Participants Added to Enhance Stability and Success] ''US Embassy in Lebanon'', 3 December 2025 (partisan).</ref>
+On 3 December 2025 civilian envoys from Lebanon and "Israel" joined the US-chaired ceasefire committee in Naqoura. ''Al Jazeera'' described these as the first direct talks between the two countries in more than four decades. Lebanon named Simon Karam, a former ambassador to Washington, to sit alongside the US envoy [[Morgan Ortagus]]. The prime minister, [[Nawaf Salam]], said the talks were not peace talks and that "normalisation is tied to a peace process". At that time "Israel" still kept troops in five areas of the south and kept up air strikes.<ref name="AJ2025">Caolán Magee, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/3/lebanon-and-israel-hold-first-direct-talks-in-40-years-as-war-fears-rise Lebanon and Israel hold first direct talks in 40 years as war fears rise] ''Al Jazeera'', 3 December 2025.</ref> The US Embassy named Uri Resnick as the Israeli civilian participant.<ref name="USEmb2025">US Embassy Beirut, [https://lb.usembassy.gov/pentalateral-members-convene-for-14th-meeting-civilian-participants-added-to-enhance-stability-and-success/ Pentalateral Members Convene for 14th Meeting; Civilian Participants Added to Enhance Stability and Success] ''US Embassy in Lebanon'', 3 December 2025 (US government-side).</ref>
 On 2 March 2026, during the US–Israeli war with Iran, Hezbollah began firing into northern "Israel", which led to large-scale Israeli operations. According to the CRS, a US-brokered "Trilateral Framework" of June 2026 involving "Israel" and Lebanon envisaged "the progressive redeployment of Israeli forces out of Lebanon 'pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups'". As of September 2026 "Israel" occupied about 5% of Lebanon. The operations reportedly displaced more than 1 million people, of whom about 360,000 were still displaced in August.<ref name="CRS2026" />
 ===Trade and boycott===
-Lebanon bans Israeli goods.<ref name="IRFLB" /> The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics country trade table does not list Lebanon.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (partisan).</ref>
+Lebanon bans Israeli goods.<ref name="IRFLB" /> The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics country trade table does not list Lebanon.<ref name="CBS">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2026/fr_trade12_2025/td1.pdf Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports] ''CBS'', December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).</ref>
 ==Migration and aliyah==
-The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Lebanese-born immigrants to "Israel" as 235 in 1948–51, 846 in 1952–60, 2,208 in 1961–71, 564 in 1972–79, 179 in 1980–89, 87 in 1990–99 and 121 in 2000–2020.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024 (partisan).</ref> The [[World Jewish Congress]] gives a total of 4,062 Lebanese Jews who emigrated to "Israel" after 1948.<ref name="WJCLB" /> Many went elsewhere: the ''Los Angeles Times'' put the diaspora that lives between Lebanon and other countries at 2,000.<ref name="LAT2009" /> When the [[South Lebanon Army|SLA]] collapsed in 2000, about 7,000 SLA members and family members fled to "Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" />
+The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records Lebanese-born immigrants to "Israel" as 235 in 1948–51, 846 in 1952–60, 2,208 in 1961–71, 564 in 1972–79, 179 in 1980–89, 87 in 1990–99 and 121 in 2000–2020.<ref name="CBSAliyah">Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), [https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2024/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_55.pdf Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence] ''CBS'', 2024 (Israeli government-side).</ref> The [[World Jewish Congress]] gives a total of 4,062 Lebanese Jews who emigrated to "Israel" after 1948.<ref name="WJCLB" /> Many went elsewhere: the ''Los Angeles Times'' put the diaspora that lives between Lebanon and other countries at 2,000.<ref name="LAT2009" /> When the [[South Lebanon Army|SLA]] collapsed in 2000, about 7,000 SLA members and family members fled to "Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" />
 ==Political interference==

@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 According to the CRS, "Israel" widened its 1982 war aims to "installing a Lebanese government amenable to signing a peace treaty with Israel".<ref name="CRSSLA" /> The CRS writes that Israeli aims in 2026 may include pressing Lebanon's government and army "to marginalize Hezbollah".<ref name="CRS2026" />
-No credible sourced link between [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and Lebanon was found, so this page has no Epstein section.
+===Jeffrey Epstein===
 ==See also==