Secret ties, wars, invasions, diplomatic agreements... For more than a century, relations between Lebanon and Israel have oscillated between mistrust, discreet contacts and violent confrontations. In this six-part series, L’Orient-Le Jour revisits the history of this complex relationship, from the first Maronite-Zionist contacts under the French Mandate to the contemporary dynamics shaped by Iran’s regional influence. March 1934. In Beirut, Dr. Haim Weizmann — a leading figure of the Zionist movement and the future first president of Israel — is received with honors at both the Grand Serail and the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke. Meeting Patriarch Antoine Arida, he speaks of the “cordial relations” between their respective communities. The head of the Maronite Church, in turn, recalls the support Jews extended to Christians during the massacres of 1860. Behind these diplomatic niceties, however, lay far more ambitious discussions. As early as 1919, Maronite dignitaries had floated a vision for a regional reordering: Lebanon for Christians, Palestine for Jews. Weizmann, meanwhile, imagined a Lebanon allied with Israel, offering strategic borders reaching the Litani River and access to the waters of Mount Hermon. It is the largely untold story of an alliance of (2) minorities united in opposition to Arab nationalism — a story of discreet meetings, proposed friendship treaties, secret understandings and shared ambitions. Ultimately, those aspirations would collide with political realities and growing opposition from Lebanon’s other communities.
Published on 23 May 2026 14:39
