The history of the South Lebanon Army in Israel: how Lebanese Christians joined forces with the IDF to fight the PLO and Hezbollah in Lebanon

The Lebanese Christians of the SLA (South Lebanon Army), known in Hebrew as “Zadal”, are a community currently mostly based in northern Israel that many people around the world - including Israelis - don’t know about. Initially on their own and later along the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), for decades they fought in Lebanon to protect their homeland from terrorism and radical Islam. After being displaced in Israel in 2000, they now keep on fighting for the freedom of their country, only from the other side of the border.

Last week we had the pleasure to interview Snowhite, the sweetest girl from the SLA community in Israel, who told us the story of her people, their incredible deeds, and their hopes for the future.

Snowhite at the Ramat Aviv Mall, Central Israel.

What is the SLA?

The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was an army made up primarily of Christian Maronites from Southern Lebanon. It was established in the mid-70s, during the Lebanese Civil War, in response to the growing presence of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and later Hezbollah: Islamic groups that posed a huge threat to the Christian communities of Southern Lebanon.

After Israel was declared an independent country in 1948 indeed, part of the Palestinian population that lived in the territory was evacuated to Jordan, much of which belonged to the PLO led by Arafat. Concerned by the violence that characterized the group’s members, oriented to overthrow the monarchy with acts of extreme violence, King Hussein of Jordan made the decision to expel the Palestinians from the state, who were evacuated once again - this time to Lebanon.These people, belonging to a radical wing of Islam, during the Lebanese Civil War slowly began to convert much of the Lebanese population, which at the time was entirely Christian.

Besides the PLO, by that point permanently based in southern Lebanon, in the same area of the country, Hezbollah was founded in the 1980s by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards following the Iranian Revolution.The two groups shared the same objective: to eliminate Israel, convert Lebanon, and establish an Islamic Caliphate.

At this point, with little support from the Lebanese government, the Christian SLA had no choice but to ask Israel for support in the fight against a common enemy. Thus, the SLA partnered with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to push back against the growing influence of radical Islamists in the region.

From fighters to refugees

The SLA found themselves increasingly reliant on Israel for military and logistical support, with Israel sending a constant stream of arms and soldiers to southern Lebanon for years.However, in 2000, Israel made the decision to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, leaving the SLA exposed. Branded as traitors by Hezbollah and other factions, these fighters and their families faced immediate danger, and so Israel offered them immediate refuge on the other side of the border, in the north of the country. Roughly 6,500 members of the SLA and their relatives fled to Israel, convinced that their stay would last only a couple of weeks.

A New Life in Israel

When the SLA families first arrived in Israel, they were settled in the town of Shlomi, near the northern border. As mentioned above, initially many of them believed they would only be there temporarily, hoping to return to Lebanon once the political situation stabilized. However, as the years passed and Hezbollah’s control in Southern Lebanon tightened, it became clear that going back was no longer an option. In 2004, Israel passed the “Zadal Law,” granting citizenship to SLA members who had stayed in the country. Before it happened, some families left Israel and moved to other countries, but for those who remained, this law signaled the beginning of a permanent life in Israel. They had to adapt to a new culture, language, and society, even as they continued to long for peace and the chance to one day return to Lebanon.

Today, the SLA community in Israel is relatively small and largely unknown. Many Israelis are unaware that Lebanese Christians live among them. Snowhite, our interviewee, is gaining increasing attention on TikTok and shared that even Israelis watching her videos assumed she was still in Lebanon. “People didn’t realize there are proper Lebanese living in Israel,” she explained.

Lebanon Today

Meanwhile, the Lebanon they left behind has changed dramatically. Once an entirely Christian country, the population has slowly been converted to Islam by members of the PLO and Hezbollah, shifting from 50% Muslims and 50% Christians a few years ago, to only 30% Christians today.Anyway, it’s been a really long time since the last study on how many Muslims there are now in Lebanon was carried out: there is no public information reported, as the Islamists don’t want to publicly admit that the Christians are sensibly decreasing in number.

Many Lebanese Christians fled during the war and afterward, seeking safety and stability abroad. The rise of Hezbollah and ongoing political instability have made it difficult for them to return.For the SLA Lebanese Christians in Israel, this demographic shift has only deepened their sense of loss. The Lebanon they knew no longer exists in the same form. And yet, despite the challenges, they maintain their cultural traditions, celebrating holidays and speaking Arabic, while also integrating into Israeli society.

Looking Forward

The hopes of the Lebanese Christians in Israel are clear: they long for a time when peace between Israel and Lebanon will allow them to travel freely between the two countries, reconnecting with the homeland they were forced to leave. “We hope that one day we’ll be able to go back to Beirut, and our friends from Lebanon will be able to come visit us here.”

Snowhite’s question was “Why is it so not normal to have peace, while it’s so normal to be like ‘Do you want war? Yalla, come and fight me’?”

Their hopes are not too far from what happened between Israel and the UAE just a few years ago: nobody was expecting a peace agreement between the two countries, but now it exists, and people are allowed to travel freely from one country to the other. It was a dream, and now it’s reality.

This is what the Lebanese in Israel are envisioning. To have a peaceful life in Lebanon together with all the people that surround them. Just as it happens in Israel.

Watch the full interview on our Social media channels.