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Israeli Ministers on Lebanon, in Their Own Words

It is easy to dismiss "Greater Israel" as something only critics say. This page collects what sitting Israeli ministers and lawmakers have said about Lebanon since 2024, with the date, the words, and a link for each. Read them in order and a pattern appears: first Lebanon is described as not a real country, then as a target to be destroyed, then as land whose border must move, and finally as land to be settled.

"Lebanon, as we know, will not exist"​

Yoav Kisch, Education Minister, July 2024. Asked about Hezbollah, Kisch said there is no distinction between Hezbollah and Lebanon, that Lebanon would "pay for Hezbollah's aggression," and: "Lebanon, as we know, will not exist" (Middle East Eye on X, 7 July 2024, video).

The Diaspora Affairs Minister, September 2024. Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, a post then held by Amichai Chikli of Likud, posted that Lebanon is not even a country and that Israel is "recalculating the borders," according to a Lebanese-American writer who shared it (Alexandra Halaby on X, 23 September 2024). Three months later, on the day Assad fell, Chikli wrote that Israel "must urgently renew its control over the peak of Mount Hermon and establish a new defense line" (Amichai Chikli on X, 8 December 2024).

"All of Lebanon"​

Itamar Ben Gvir, National Security Minister. In June 2024 he called to "enter the north and fight Hezbollah and annihilate them" (video posted 13 June 2024). In June 2026 he wrote "All of Lebanon needs to burn," which Iran's foreign minister then held up as proof of Israel's intentions (Times of Israel, 21 June 2026). Modern Diplomacy also quoted him: "For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep" (Modern Diplomacy, 15 July 2026). On Israeli television he said: "Lebanon, all of Lebanon should become our playground, all of Lebanon should be our target, and I—people tell me, 'wait a second, but there's Lebanon and there's Hezbollah'—I don't accept that artificial approach" (video posted 20 September 2026; also Alex Jones on X, 23 June 2026). A summary of his remarks in May 2026 said he spoke of plans for "settlement in Lebanon" (Grok summary on X, 21 September 2026).

"The new Israeli border must be the Litani"​

Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister. Smotrich, who also holds a minister's post in the Defense Ministry overseeing the West Bank, has said it more than once:

  • 23 March 2026, on the radio: "I say here definitively…in every room and in every discussion, too: the new Israeli border must be the Litani." The war must end "with the change of Israel's borders" (Times of Israel liveblog). Another rendering of the same remarks: "a political component in Lebanon that will extend our borders to the Litani River within defensible lines" (as quoted by Nury Vittachi on X, 25 March 2026).
  • 9 April 2026, at a settlement inauguration: "There will be expansion in Gaza that will extend our borders. In Lebanon, to the Litani, in Syria, Mount Hermon, parts of the north, south, and east" (video).
  • May 2026: "Our enemies do not care how many terrorists we kill or how many bombs we drop on them. What matters to them is that we take territory from them" (post quoting him, 7 May 2026).
  • August 2026: "God promised us the Land of Israel in its full biblical extent. I sincerely hope and pray that one day that vision will be fulfilled" (Mario Nawfal on X, 2 August 2026).

Haaretz's veteran Arab-affairs writer Zvi Barel summed it up in August 2025: "The vision of the complete Land of Israel is no longer limited to the West Bank and the sacred lands of the Gaza Strip. If one believes Bezalel Smotrich, the state's borders will also stretch into Lebanese territory" (Hebrew, as shared by a post on X, 2 August 2025, translation for this page).

"Sovereignty and settlement"​

Yitzhak Kroizer, Knesset member and head of the Internal Affairs Committee, March 2026. On Lebanon: "There's no choice but to expel and clear out the area up to the Litani River… sovereignty and settlement." On Syria: "We should settle in the buffer zone." On the land between the river and the sea: "There is room for one nation between the river and the sea, the Jewish nation" (video posted 22 March 2026).

Eighteen Knesset members, April 2026. They pressed the government "to occupy and fully control southern Lebanon up to the Litani River and 'evacuate' the Lebanese population there" (The Conversation, 8 April 2026).

The defense minister and the prime minister​

Israel Katz, Defense Minister. Early March 2026: Lebanon could face "loss of territory." 24 March 2026: the army will hold "the security zone up to the Litani," and "Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will be inside [Lebanon]" (Times of Israel, 24 March 2026). Late March: Israeli forces "will not leave the south of Lebanon after the end of the current war" (as reported by Mondoweiss, 4 April 2026).

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister. "Every terrorist position — and there are many — is simply being flattened," and Israel would create "a solid, deeper security zone" (as quoted by Levant Time, 26 April 2026). "We have changed our security concept. We initiate, we attack, and we have created three security zones deep within enemy territory" (NPR, 31 May 2026). "Israel stays in the yellow security zone that keeps us safe. And this is a huge achievement. Huge!" (Clash Report on X, 27 June 2026).

What an Israeli officer said out loud​

In November 2023, weeks into the Gaza war, a video circulated of an Israeli officer celebrating: "the land is ours. The whole country! All of it! Including Gaza! Including Lebanon! The whole promised land! We're going to come back big time! Gush Katif is this small compared to what we'll reach!" (David Sheen on X, 4 November 2023; the post was viewed about 11 million times).

Reading the pattern​

The government's official line is that southern Lebanon is a security zone. The ministers who make up that government say something else: the border must move, the people must not return, and the land should be settled. An Israeli reserve colonel and former military planner, Udi Evental, described this exact combination as "a security-ideological coalition" that uses "a defensive-preventive narrative to advance a messianic agenda of 'Greater Israel'" (Udi Evental on X, 25 April 2026).

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. Every quote above is on the record, most of them in Israeli outlets or on video.

Status: Yoav Kisch, Amichai Chikli, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Yitzhak Kroizer, Israel Katz, Benjamin Netanyahu, Zvi Barel, and Udi Evental are alive. Nothing on this page states that any living person committed a crime.

Sources​

Research captures: twitter/t23__v265.md, twitter/t23__v269.md, twitter/t23__v270.md, twitter/t23__v271.md, twitter/t23__v273.md, twitter/t24__v282.md, twitter/t26__v305.md, twitter/t28__v333.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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