South Lebanon Army
Lebanese militia created, funded and armed by Israel in its southern Lebanon "security zone", 1985–2000
| South Lebanon Army
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Militia |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Location | Israeli "security zone", southern Lebanon |
| Key people | Saad Haddad; Antoine Lahad (commander) |
| Remarks | Disbanded on Israel's withdrawal in May 2000 |
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was a Lebanese militia that "Israel" set up in its occupied "security zone" in southern Lebanon. A 2000 report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) says that "Israel created the South Lebanon Army (SLA), composed of local Lebanese, in order to advance its political and security objectives in Lebanon".[1]
History
According to the CRS, after the 1982 invasion and the partial withdrawal of 1985, "Israel" held about 10% of Lebanon through a nine-mile-deep "security zone". In 1985 it "officially established the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in the 'security zone' as an allied militia that it fully funded and equipped". The SLA grew out of Major Saad Haddad's "Free Lebanon" forces, soldiers who broke from the Lebanese army in 1978 and worked closely with "Israel".[1]
The SLA was commanded by General Antoine Lahad and had 2,500 to 3,000 fighters. Most commanders were Christian, but about half the members were Shia, Druze or Sunni. "Israel" paid members $500–800 a month and spent an estimated $35 million a year on the militia. The CRS cites Human Rights Watch as saying that the SLA also conscripted residents of the zone, including children.[1]
Collapse
"Israel" withdrew from the zone on 24 May 2000. The SLA could not hold the positions handed to it and disbanded. The CRS writes that Hezbollah, and "nearly all Lebanese", regarded it "as an extension of the Israeli military occupation".[1]
Relevance in 2026
David Ben-Gurion wrote in 1948 of a Christian state with the Litani as its southern border, allied with "Israel".[2] Oded Yinon in 1982 described "Major Haddad's state of Christians and half a million Shi'ites" in the south.[3] See Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (2024–present).
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Joshua Ruebner, The South Lebanon Army (SLA): History, Collapse, Post-Withdrawal Status Congressional Research Service, RS20566, 10 June 2000, accessed 22 October 2026 (US Congress-side).
- ↑ David Ben-Gurion, Diary, 24 May 1948 The Ben-Gurion Archive, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, accessed 22 October 2026 (Israeli-side).
- ↑ Oded Yinon, A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties Kivunim, no. 14, February 1982, English translation, Internet Archive copy, accessed 22 October 2026.