Prior to the Israeli
withdrawal from south Lebanon and the abandonment of the SLA, Hebrew
University lecturer Mordechai Nisan engaged in intensive and extensive
efforts in proposing the consolidation of the Israeli-Lebanese
relationship, the strengthening of the South Lebanese Army, and the goal
of a Free Lebanon as an Israeli strategic goal. In this personal account,
he relates his involvement with a number of Lebanese personalities,
especially Etienne Sakr (Abu Arz), and the various activities undertaken
over a period of three years (1997-2000). His reckoning records the
response or lack thereof to this private and public campaign, mentioning
former Prime Minister Netanyahu, the positive attitude expressed by David
Bar-Ilan and Uri Elitzur in the PM's Office, the views of members of
Knesset like Uzi Landau, Ephraim Sneh, and Gidon Ezra, and that of Israeli
Coordinator for Lebanese Activities, Uri Lubrani. Nisan discloses the
contacts he initiated and the contents of some meetings he attended,
including one with Minister Amnon-Shahak, until the shameful and tragic
betrayal of the SLA in May. This is a document of historical value that
exposes Israeli policy tainted by political paralysis and moral deafness.
