In an unprecedented step since the long years of conflict and tension between Lebanon and Israel, more than 1,250 Israeli women, most of them mothers of soldiers in the Israeli army, sent an open letter to the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, in which they expressed their support for his call for peace and their rejection of the continuation of the logic of wars in the region.
The message comes at a time when the region is witnessing rapid political and diplomatic transformations, amid growing talk about opportunities to reduce tension and open new negotiating paths in the Middle East.
According to what was stated in the letter, the signatories confirmed that they accept President Aoun’s call for dialogue and peace, and reject what they described as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of keeping the Israelis in a permanent state of war.
The message came in response to statements made by President Aoun during an interview with American journalist Christiane Amanpour, when he addressed the Israeli public directly, saying: “Do you really want to live in an eternal war?”
Israeli women responded by saying: “Our answer is no. We refuse to live in eternal war. We choose hope instead of fear, dialogue instead of hostility, and peace instead of war.”
A spokeswoman for the group confirmed that the Lebanese President’s statements had a great impact on the participants, considering that his talk about the prospects for peace gained exceptional importance in light of the dominance of military and security discourse on the political scene in the region.
The message added: “It is time to start talking about peace between Israel and Lebanon in order to achieve a new vision for the future,” noting that the decades-long conflict has left pain, losses and destruction on both sides.
The signatories expressed their solidarity with the mothers in Lebanon and Israel who lost their children, were forced to leave their homes, or are still living in anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.
The mothers stressed their refusal to consider war an inevitable fate for the two peoples, stressing that many leaders used to use the language of force as if war was an option without an alternative, while peace should be the real goal that the peoples seek.
The letter stated that achieving peace between Lebanon and Israel is no longer an impossible idea, but rather has become an achievable goal if the political and popular will is present, considering that military solutions alone cannot secure a secure future for future generations.
The letter also considered that President Aoun’s initiative to open the door to dialogue represents a different and rare voice in the political space of the region, calling for strengthening diplomatic efforts, cooperation, and work to build a future based on common security and stability.
The message was not limited to the mothers of soldiers, as 9 Israeli civil organizations joined it, including “Women Making Peace,” “Forum for Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian Families,” and “1325 Forum to Push Toward a Political Settlement,” in addition to other organizations active in the fields of peace and community dialogue.
This message gains special importance because it comes in light of one of the most tense stages in the history of the relationship between Lebanon and Israel, after the southern border witnessed in recent years widespread military confrontations and an exchange of bombings, raids, and displacement operations on both sides of the border.
It also coincides with rapid regional and international diplomatic movements aimed at reducing tension in the region, which makes any popular or civil initiatives in support of dialogue and peace a focus of attention and follow-up by political and diplomatic circles.
Although these initiatives do not necessarily reflect the positions of governments or official institutions, they do reflect the presence of voices within Israeli society calling for the search for political and diplomatic alternatives to the ongoing conflict, and believe that security and stability cannot be achieved through open wars alone.
