Echoes of 1982 Lebanon War, as Israel retakes Beaufort Castle
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Ned Temko Columnist
| London
It is an extraordinary sight as you weave your way inland from the Mediterranean coast, across the hills and valleys of southern Lebanon, and it looms above you: the nearly 900-year-old Crusader castle of Beaufort.
But this week, with a pair of newly planted flags atop its turret, Beaufort came under the control of Israel鈥檚 military for the first time since it withdrew from Lebanon 26 years ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed that recapturing the castle shows Israel was 鈥渟tronger than ever鈥� and prepared to push further into a country it invaded in 1982, and a southern Lebanese border area it occupied for a further 18 years.
Why We Wrote This
Israel鈥檚 recapture of Beaufort Castle last month has echoes from the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, and the nearly two decades that followed, with Israeli troops occupying parts of the country until withdrawing in 2000.
His defense minister recalled the 鈥渉eroic battle of Beaufort,鈥� in which Israel鈥檚 Golani Brigade seized the hilltop fortress during the 1982 invasion. Images published in news reports reinforced the point: Alongside Israel鈥檚 national flag, the Golani banner fluttered above Beaufort.
But Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 upbeat assessment 鈥� and his vow to 鈥渄efeat鈥� Iran-backed Hezbollah forces and end cross-border fire on northern Israel 鈥� airbrushed out a more complex reality of Israel鈥檚 initial capture of Beaufort and its long military entanglement in Lebanon.
The message that narrative conveys is far more cautionary.
It鈥檚 that even overwhelming military superiority might fail to deliver security, much less produce the kind of political change Israel sought in Lebanon not so long ago, and still seeks.
In 1982, the significance of Israeli forces seizing the castle was more symbolic than strategic.
Its topography did give the site military value. Perched more than 2,000 feet above sea level, it had a commanding view not just of southern Lebanon, but the Upper Galilee region that lies across the border in northern Israel.
Israel鈥檚 enemy, back then, was Yasser Arafat鈥檚 Palestine Liberation Organization, which used Beaufort as a critical vantage point for its spotters to direct rocket and artillery fire into Israel.
The Golani Brigade was geared up to seize Beaufort as soon as Israel invaded in June 1982.
Yet in the broader context of the war in Lebanon 鈥� conceived by then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon with the aim of driving all the way to Beirut and installing a 海角大神 Lebanese ally as Lebanon鈥檚 president 鈥� Beaufort was of minor significance.
Even if the castle had remained in PLO hands, the Israeli invasion force was due to advance well beyond it within hours, leaving Palestinian fighters isolated and irrelevant.
In fact, Israel鈥檚 military commanders canceled the planned Beaufort attack hours into the invasion.
But the order got lost in the fog of war, and the assault went ahead.
And just like this week, the castle鈥檚 capture was followed by an upbeat photo op, with Mr. Sharon himself arriving at Beaufort Castle via helicopter.
When he boasted that the operation had succeeded without losing a single soldier, however, a junior Golani officer couldn鈥檛 restrain himself. 鈥淲hat are you talking about?鈥� he protested. 鈥淪ix of my friends were killed.鈥�
The broader story of Israel鈥檚 war in Lebanon was full of similar split-screen moments.
Mr. Sharon could claim successes. Israeli troops did advance all the way to Beirut. Mr. Arafat and thousands of his fighters were evacuated from Lebanon under a U.S.-mediated arrangement. And in September 1982, Israel鈥檚 ally, Bashir Gemayel, was elected president in Lebanon.
Yet, only days later, Mr. Gemayel was killed in a bomb attack in Beirut.
That, alone, might have put paid to Mr. Sharon鈥檚 war plan. But things got far worse when Mr. Gemayel鈥檚 supporters, with a green light from Israel鈥檚 military, entered the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila and massacred hundreds of civilians.
The outrage following the incident was felt not just internationally, but inside Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis turned out to demand an inquiry into how the killings had been allowed to happen, and to press for an end to the war.
And it did end.
Yet Israel鈥檚 solution back then resembles Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 today: the creation of a 鈥渟ecurity zone鈥� to ensure a definitive end to cross-border fire into Israel. Following the 1982 invasion, the Israeli military held on to Beaufort, and to a broad strip of southern Lebanon, for nearly two more decades.
While the PLO threat was gone from Lebanon, a new anti-Israel force 鈥� Hezbollah 鈥� benefited from fertile political ground in the majority-Shiite Lebanese south, and from Iran鈥檚 backing.
During the 18 years that followed, the Israeli garrison in Beaufort embodied the challenges of turning Israel鈥檚 security zone in south Lebanon into a guarantee of true security.
Hezbollah simply fired over Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, across the border, and into northern Israel. It also repeatedly attacked Israeli units operating inside Lebanon, with Beaufort often a target of choice.
Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 current hope appears to be that a deeper, more aggressively enforced security zone will prove more effective.
But it has so far looked as vulnerable as the last one: with Hezbollah deploying new fiber-optic drones the Israelis have yet to find a way to stop.
That鈥檚 been a different kind of reminder of Israel鈥檚 earlier hold on Beaufort Castle, when its defenders came to feel they were Hezbollah targets more than security guarantors 鈥� a frustration powerfully captured in the 2007 Oscar-nominated film, 鈥淏eaufort.鈥�
This week, the film鈥檚 director, Joseph Cedar, said he was shocked any Israeli with a sense of history would welcome returning to Beaufort 鈥� a formula that he feared would lead to a 鈥渟tupid, futile waste of lives.鈥�
