The IDF announces the establishment of a committee headed by Shaul Mofaz, which will examine the possibility of granting the letter alongside the official name of the campaign • The Action Committee welcomes the announcement

• Archive photo // Photo: Yossi Ben Hanan

Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi on Tuesday announced the appointment of a committee whose mission is to examine the possibility of awarding an assessment letter to soldiers, regular and reserve, who served during the IDF's fighting in Lebanon. Former Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz will be chaired by other members, including Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, Jacob Banjo, Itai Virov, and Doron Piles, as well as Maj. Giora Island, Moshe Kaplinsky, and Ido Nahushtan.

Alongside the question of granting the signal, the committee will also consider the possibility of naming the campaign, as the period that qualifies for receiving the signal for eligibility criteria. The committee is expected to forward the recommendations to Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and Defense Minister Benny Gantz within a few months, after which it will be decided how to proceed.

The Lebanese Defense Forces Recognition Action Committee in Lebanon said: We welcome the announcement. The composition of the commission reflects a serious and sincere intention to recognize the war alongside a desire to correct the historical injustice of the war in Lebanon. 

"Recognition of war is a significant issue for the hundreds of bereaved families who lost loved ones on Lebanese land, thousands of wounded in the body and mind as a result of the years of fighting in the Security Strip and for the fighters and support supporters who took part in the longest war in Israeli history."

The committee is expected to hold a working meeting with the defense minister in the next few days, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. In addition, the committee intends to cooperate fully with the committee to reach the common goal and is preparing for its appearance.

A few months ago, Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced the establishment of a team to examine the granting of a formal signal to combat security in Lebanon in the 1980s and 1990s. The initiative followed the opening of a Facebook group called "Stories from Lebanon - What Happened in Stations" that re-flooded the events that took place during the IDF's control of the security zone.

The Facebook group gained tremendous circulation, including the meeting between a fighter and his friend, whom he thought had been dead for 23 years. Jordan Neufeld wrote on Facebook that he is looking for details about a guy who served with him in the MOS course, and to his surprise, a soldier, Hagai Ovadia, replied that he was alive.