The finance minister said past withdrawals have only led to disaster.
The Israel Defense Forces’ regained control of the Beaufort Fortress in southeastern Lebanon for the first time since 2000 is “an expression of correcting old national sins and distorted perceptions,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday.
The Israeli government promised the residents of the north lasting security, and “we are acting with determination to achieve this,” Smotrich tweeted in Hebrew.
“We fled from Lebanon [in 2000] and received the disaster of the [2006] Second Lebanon War and Hezbollah’s buildup to monstrous dimensions now required destroying through hard work,” the minister continued.
“We fled from Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip [in the 2005 disengagement] and received the disaster of Oct. 7, [2023]. ... I will continue to demand and promote a permanent territorial conception and exceptional military aggressiveness. The costs of the war are heavy, but necessary for Israel’s security and its future,” he added.