Frederic C. Hof - Galilee Divided: The Israel-Lebanon Frontier, 1916-1984

Galilee Divided

Security problems associated with the Lebanon-Palestine/Israel frontier have arisen periodically ever since France and Great Britain partitioned Galilee in the wake of World War I. This study analyzes the complexities of Lebanese-Israeli interaction along their common border both chronologically and functionally. The author begins by examining the initial partition of Galilee between the two Levantine states and its immediate consequences. He then considers the evolution of the two basic problems not resolved by Great Britain and France with regard to the frontier: water and security. Later chapters focus on the manner in which southern Lebanon became the focal point of the Arab-Israeli confrontation, the attendant destruction of the Lebanese state, and the aborted May 1983 Israel-Lebanon agreement. The author concludes that there will be no peace for Galilee without a real government for Lebanon.

Frederic C. Hof is a U.S. Army officer who has spent most of his sixteen-year career in assignments and training related to the Middle East. He recently served on the staff of the Long Commission, which investigated the October 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks at Beirut International Airport.

The Israel-Lebanon Frontier, 1916-1984

First published 1985 by Westview Press, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hof, Frederic C.
Galilee divided.
(Westview special studies on the Middle East)
Bibliography: p.
1. Israel--Boundaries--Lebanon. 2. Lebanon--Boundaries--Israel. I. Title. II. Series.
DS119.8.L4H64 1984 956.92 85-3291

ISBN13: 978-0-3670-0606-8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-3671-5593-3 (pbk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429035920

Philip C. Habib

1. THE CREATION OF THE PALESTINE-LEBANON BOUNDARY

2. LOCAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE 1923 BOUNDARY AGREEMENT

3. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE 1923 BOUNDARY AGREEMENT

4. THE EVOLVING WATER CONTROVERSY

5. EVOLVING SECURITY PROBLEMS: 1925-1949

6. A QUIET INTERLUDE: 1949-1967

7. THE FEDAYEEN FACTOR: 1968-1975

8. CIVIL WAR AND THE SOUTH: 1975-1978

9. THE MARCH 1978 INVASION AND AFTERMATH

10. THE SOUTH LEBANON PRESSURE POINT

11. THE MAY 1983 ISRAELI-LEBANESE AGREEMENT

12. PEACE FOR GALILEE?

The threat of conflict in the Middle East remains a critical issue affecting U.S. interests. In recent years, the Israel/Lebanon border has been one of the hot spots across which such hostilities have occasionally erupted. The Israelis have entered Lebanon on a number of occasions, the most dramatic instance being in 1982. The border area remains of critical concern to the peoples of the region and continues to be an unresolved problem capable of recreating additional crises in the future. LTC Hof's book treats the Israel/Lebanon border in both its historical and current perspectives and amply illustrates the fragility of the current situation by shedding light on past disputes and on the potential for future differences. What emerges is a clear demonstration of the need for a process that deals with the larger issues in order to avoid disturbances that can arise from particular situations. Here, the larger issue of the search for peace in the face of the long-standing Arab/Israeli conflict remains paramount. The problems along the Israel/Lebanon border are magnified by the failure to meet the needs of the overriding problem, and hostilities in the border region are a direct consequence of the inability to come to grips with the longer-term issues. This creates the dismal prospect that we have not seen the last of the crises along and across the demarcation line. To the extent that such crises arise, they draw attention away from the larger problem and interfere with the revitalization of the peace process. In the final analysis, that is the most important consequence of instability in the border area. The background for our understanding of this larger problem is immeasurably increased by the careful research and thoughtful analysis contained in this book.

Philip C. Habib

Ten years have passed since the independent Lebanese state, born in 1943, died violently in the streets of downtown Beirut. Alive, Lebanon was too weak and militarily inconsequential to be categorized as a "confrontation state" in the Arab-Israeli context; this, despite the existence of a common border with Israel. Yet, dead, Lebanon was drawn into the very center of the Arab-Israeli vortex, an abyss from which it has yet to emerge.

Hindsight enables us to see clearly now that the glitter and glamor of Beirut in the 1960s was but a facade which masked an ugliness perceived by very few. How obvious it now seems that the Grand Liban created by France in 1920, the unnatural offspring of French imperialism and Christian Lebanese nationalism, was born to die the way it did. How incongruous it now seems that the savage primordialism of Lebanon's sectarian communities, an ever-present condition brought rapidly into the open by the ferocity of the Palestinian-Zionist confrontation, lay hidden for years at a time. How tragic it is that the Lebanese people, whose extraordinary talents and charm make them the most prized of immigrants in many lands, were unable to grace their own beautiful country with a government dedicated to the welfare and protection of all. It was this failure, the product of incredibly short-sighted localism, confessional ism, and greed, which fumbled the fate of Lebanon itself into non-Lebanese hands. Foreigners, whether buying the services of Lebanese journalists and gunmen or occupying Lebanese land, found this fragmented society to be penetrable everywhere and in all respects.