After the long, costly US experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, a clear bipartisan consensus emerged firmly opposing putting American boots on the ground in another Middle East war.
US President Donald Trump seems open to violating that taboo — despite railing against it in election campaigns — deploying thousands of US infantry troops to the Middle East ahead of a possible invasion of Iranian territory.
But it’s not only the Americans who could be set to reopen old wounds in the fight against Iran and its proxies.
Top Israeli leaders are openly declaring their intention to create another security zone in southern Lebanon.
On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted that Israel has created “three security zones deep in enemy territory” — in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon — and that in Lebanon, he has given the order to “further expand the existing security zone to definitively thwart the [Hezbollah] invasion threat and to push anti-tank missile fire away from our border.”
In May 2000, Israel ended its traumatic, 18-year-long occupation of southern Lebanon. Never again, Israelis pledged, would they get stuck in the “Lebanese mud” that saw an average of over 20 IDF soldiers die every year.
Now, Israel looks to be sliding back into that quagmire. And while more than a quarter-century has passed since Israel pulled out of the security zone, it is fighting the same enemy, operating with much the same logic, and risks achieving the same result.
Published originally on March 31, 2026.
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
