Netanyahu at Memorial for Second Lebanon War Fallen: "We’ll Stay in the Security Buffer in Southern Lebanon as Long as Needed — and Do Everything to Reach a Peace Agreement"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today (Wednesday) at the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Second Lebanon War at Mount Herzl. At the start of his speech, he addressed the bereaved families: "I embrace every family in its pain from the depths of my heart, with genuine gratitude and with recognition of the magnitude of your grief and its enduring presence."

Netanyahu recalled the story of Major Roi Klein הי"ד, who fell in battle in Bint Jbeil after jumping on a grenade to save his soldiers. He said that recently he saw Klein’s father give his son’s beret to his grandson, who enlisted as a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade. In his words, "The relay baton that passes from generation to generation in the Klein family is in the hands of all our soldiers and commanders in the current war — the war of revival."

The prime minister emphasized that Lebanon remains a central front today as well: "We proved two things to Hezbollah. First, that Israel will not be held hostage by the operational arm of the evil regime in Iran, and second — not only is Israel not weak like a spider’s web, as Nasrallah said, Israel is strong like strands of steel."

Netanyahu then shared personal memories from his time serving in *Sayeret Matkal* in Lebanon. He described the country as "a beautiful land, very beautiful," and said he took part there in various operational missions, including a landing at the Beirut airport and another operation intended to capture senior officials in the Syrian general staff. According to him, when his service ended, he left Lebanon on foot with his soldiers, and along the way he was struck by the beauty of the land and the cedars of Lebanon. At the same time, he added that it was a "beautiful and miserable land," which, he said, over the years became a theater of activity for the PLO and later for Iran and its proxies.

Netanyahu also referred to a visit he made yesterday to southern Lebanon together with Defense Minister ישראל כ"ץ. According to him, the two stood at the point where Hassan Nasrallah delivered his speech after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and looked out toward Bint Jbeil: "The one who spoke then about a spider’s web — crumbled himself like a spider’s web!"

He went on to stress that IDF fighters in the Second Lebanon War showed extraordinary courage and that "in every direct engagement — they had the upper hand." He cited the testimony of Yoni Chetboun, today a reserve colonel, who fought alongside Roi Klein. From his book "Under Fire" he quoted: "Contrary to what one might think, I felt an enormous sense of strength and pride in the privilege that fell to my lot despite the difficulty and the pain. We knew that we had carried out what was required of us as fighters in the Israel Defense Forces."

According to the prime minister, the public debate that took place after the Second Lebanon War led to the conclusion that in the next confrontation Israel would have to achieve a more significant decisive outcome. He argued that in the current war Israel has applied those lessons, despite dire predictions voiced at the start: "We broke through the barrier of fear. We took the initiative. We attacked. We surprised." 

He also detailed that Israel prevented the Radwan Force from infiltrating the north of the country, carried out the "pager operation," eliminated Hezbollah’s leadership headed by Hassan Nasrallah, killed more than 9,000 terrorists — 3,500 of them since Operation "Lion’s Roar" — destroyed the overwhelming majority of the 150,000 missiles and rockets intended to strike Israel, demolished a significant portion of the terror villages in southern Lebanon, and captured the Beaufort fortress.

According to him, one of the central lessons of the campaign is the creation of a broad buffer zone along the northern border: "We will remain in the security buffer in southern Lebanon — as long as needed." He added that the security area is meant to prevent a terror army from entrenching itself near the border and building infrastructure and offensive tunnels: "The ‘Gaza envelope’ today is inside Gaza. The ‘Lebanon envelope’ today is inside Lebanon. This is a critical lesson.".

Netanyahu further revealed that for the first time in decades, direct negotiations had taken place between Israeli representatives and representatives of the Lebanese government, with U.S. mediation. According to him, "A few days ago we achieved a historic breakthrough. We signed an agreement-in-principle that separates the Lebanon front from the Iran front." He added that the agreement recognizes Israel’s right to hold the buffer area in southern Lebanon until the Hezbollah threat is removed, and that this amounts to both "a military blow and a diplomatic blow" from the standpoint of the organization and Iran.

Toward the end of his speech, he said that although Israel still expects to face additional challenges and campaigns, the sequence of wars in Lebanon and the strength Israel has demonstrated have created a new reality in the region: "We have taken an important step toward ending the conflict, and we will do everything to later reach a peace agreement between the two countries as well."

He concluded his speech with the story of the first female airborne mechanic in the IDF, Keren Tendler הי"ד, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War. He read the words she wrote days before her death: "Hashem, watch over us and our state, bring peace from on high, bestow blessing upon our entire land, please protect us and those who are fighting." Netanyahu concluded: "In the spirit of Keren Tendler’s words, we will continue to defend the State of Israel and, with Hashem’s help, ensure the eternity of Israel. We will preserve the image of those who fell in the Second Lebanon War — the heroes and heroines of Israel — and of the civilian dead. May their memory be blessed forever."

Defense Minister Israel Katz also spoke at the ceremony. In his words: "The events of October 7 made one clear truth plain to all of us: we must not wait until the threat is knocking at our doors. We struck twice in proactive preemptive blows in Iran, and if necessary — we will strike a third time".

He added: "We are not fighting in Lebanon in order to restore the previous situation. We are fighting to change the reality and bring security to the residents of the north. The IDF will not withdraw and will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, in Syria, and in Gaza — without time limit — in order to protect our residents and our communities from there against jihadist elements".

נתניהו (צילום: מעיין טואף, לע״מ)