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Settling South Lebanon: Uri Tzafon and the First Outposts

In the West Bank, the pattern has been the same for more than fifty years: the army takes land "for security," settlers arrive, ministers protect them, and the land is never handed back. This page shows the same pattern starting in southern Lebanon. It names the movement doing it, quotes its leaders, and records the steps taken so far, from a 2024 conference to settlers entering Lebanese villages under army guard in 2026.

The movement: Uri Tzafon​

Uri Tzafon, Hebrew for "Awake, North Wind," was founded in 2024 on the claim that southern Lebanon up to the Litani River belongs to Israel. In June 2024 the Times of Israel reported on its first conference to "advocate occupation and settlement of south Lebanon." Its stated position: "The time has come to collect the price of aggression through occupation and settlement" (Times of Israel, 16 June 2024). Speakers included Hagi Ben Artzi, the brother of Netanyahu's wife, who told the audience Israel's borders should reach into Syria as promised in the Bible: "We don't want even one meter beyond the Euphrates River. We are humble. [But] what we were promised, we must conquer" (as quoted from +972 Magazine by Kit Klarenberg, MintPress News).

The movement's website tells Israelis the idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds: "The idea of settlement in Lebanon sounds as detached from reality to the Israeli ear as settlement on the planet Venus, but it is not." It renames the land: "What is 'South Lebanon' actually? It is simply the Northern Galilee. The clear natural border between Israel and the Lebanon Mountains runs along the Litani River" (as quoted by Britain Palestine Project, 13 April 2026).

What its leaders say​

  • Anna Sloutskin, co-founder, to France 24, May 2026: "The idea is that most of the population flees, we move the border, and we do not let that population return." She said some ministers back the movement "under the table."
  • Ori Plasse, member, same report: "Anybody who follows the Old Testament... should know that the land of Israel is promised to us from the Nile and to the Euphrates" (France 24, 14 May 2026).
  • Daniella Weiss, head of the Nachala settlement movement, December 2025: "There are parties preparing to settle in Lebanon, our bags are ready on our backs, we want to replicate the West Bank, God willing, in Lebanon" (SilentlySirs on X, 29 December 2025, caption translation). In a 2024 interview she said: "I want to have for the Jewish people the promised land from the Bible, from the Euphrates to the Nile…South Lebanon is a part of it, all of it" (Going Underground on X, 23 September 2024).

Ministers and lawmakers who back it​

According to Wikipedia's summary of Times of Israel and L'Orient Today reporting, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Religious Zionism lawmakers joined the call to settle southern Lebanon, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir discussed a "settlement plan" for the south in May 2026 (Wikipedia, Uri Tzafon). Knesset member Yitzhak Kroizer called on video for "sovereignty and settlement" up to the Litani (video, 22 March 2026). Jerusalem Post opinion pages carried the case for "a civilian presence in southern Lebanon" and to "resettle it with Jewish communities" (Jerusalem Post, 20 March 2026; Zachary Foster on X, 14 March 2026).

The steps on the ground​

  1. June 2024: first Uri Tzafon conference. Members sent eviction notices to Lebanese villagers by drone and balloon (Times of Israel, 16 June 2024).
  2. December 2024: the army, after first denying it, admitted that members of the group "did indeed cross the Blue Line by several meters" near the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras (Times of Israel, 18 December 2024).
  3. January 2026: a video showed "an Israeli rabbi, guarded by the IDF," inside the Lebanese village of Marwahin "calling to settle and take over houses" (post, 22 January 2026).
  4. March–April 2026: the army takes the land to the Litani and bars residents from returning (see Lebanon).
  5. Summer 2026: X's news feed carried the story "Israeli settlers seize homes in Southern Lebanon and establish first outpost with IDF backing," which drew thousands of posts (X news summary page, 1 July 2026). Accounts reported settlers giving Lebanese villages Hebrew names (post, 10 September 2026). The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung wrote that even Israel's pledge "not to pursue territorial claims" in the south "will also not spell an end to messianic plans for the settlement of south Lebanon" (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 15 July 2026).

Why it matters​

The Beirut-based analyst Nicholas Noe put it plainly in March 2026: "The longstanding Greater Israel plan is now being openly discussed for Lebanon where it's not about a 'buffer zone' to push back attacks... but instead it's about new settlements" (Nicholas Noe on X, 20 March 2026). Settlements change the question from "when will the army leave?" to "who will make the settlers leave?" In the West Bank, the answer for fifty years has been: no one.

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED that an organized Israeli movement is working to settle southern Lebanon and has crossed the border. STRONG that ministers in the governing coalition support it.

Status: Anna Sloutskin, Ori Plasse, Daniella Weiss, Hagi Ben Artzi, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Yitzhak Kroizer, and Nicholas Noe are alive. Nothing on this page states that any living person committed a crime.

Sources​

Research captures: twitter/t23__v265.md, twitter/t23__v268.md, twitter/t23__v271.md, twitter/t23__v272.md, twitter/t23__v274.md, twitter/t24__v281.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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