IDF to recognize service in south Lebanon with campaign medal
Occupation from 1982-2000 was where many of current generation of IDF leaders first tasted combat
The Israeli military will formally recognize the service of military personnel who operated in the southern Lebanon security zone with a campaign medal.
Military chiefs spoke about their experiences of the conflict in a ceremony Monday where Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi was the first soldier to receive the new medal.
“Like many of you, there in Lebanon I was shot at for the first time. There I struck the enemy for the first time, and there, for the first time, I heard a friend’s final breaths,” Kohavi was quoted by The Times of Israel (ToI) as saying.
The award recognizes the 18-year occupation as a separate campaign from the 1982 First Lebanon War and the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and comes after years of lobbying from Israeli military veterans.
It comes following the 20th anniversary of the Israeli disengagement from Lebanon last year, and the establishment of a commission to examine whether the period deserved recognition as a full campaign. It now becomes the ninth military campaign fought by Israel since its establishment in 1948.
“This is an emotional moment for me as a person and foremost as a soldier,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said during the ceremony, according to ToI.
As the Israeli army’s liaison to the South Lebanese Army, Gantz was the last soldier to withdraw from the area of operations, literally locking the gate behind him as he returned to Israel.