Israel is expected to name the Lebanon war this month. Political sources said Sunday that the government’s Ceremonies and Symbols Committee would convene imminently, probably on March 19, following pressure from the families of veterans of the July-August conflict.
Israel has yet to acknowledge the 34 days of fighting against Hezbollah guerrillas as a “war,” a fact political sources attributed to Finance Ministry concerns about the fiscal burdens that would entail in terms of compensation payouts to northern communities. Instead, the Ceremonies and Symbols Committee is likely to dub the conflict an “operation” or “campaign.” For now, the epitaphs of slain soldiers describe them as having “fallen during the fighting in southern Lebanon.”
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