
Two months after the start of the ceasefire with Lebanon, many residents of northern Israeli towns are still not sure what to think about the prospect of returning home. In closed discussions held in recent weeks between security force leaders and the leadership of border communities along the Lebanon border, two facts have emerged that seem hard to reconcile.
On the one hand, the Israeli military’s presence along the border with Lebanon has doubled since the eve of October 7, 2023, and senior Israeli officials have insisted that the size of the force will remain the same over the coming year. On the other hand, cautious estimates suggest that the Israeli military does not have the capacity to maintain such a large military presence along the entire 50 mile border for years to come. And even though the last two months of the ceasefire have been relatively calm, no one is under any illusions that the quiet will last.

In the Mateh Asher Regional Council, located on the border with Lebanon, local security officer Yishai Ifroni has been working for the past two months to prepare the communities for the residents’ return. “One thing interests the residents: when they are told to return, will they have physical security?” he told Davar.
“I believe the army is doing its job, but if a resident doesn’t feel safe, they won’t return,” he continued.
Near the border, cement mixers are working on reinforcing the barrier, with the plans to completely block the possibility of anti-tank fire toward the communities. The main entrance to Kibbutz Admat, located in the western part of the border, has been moved to another location in the settlement because it was too exposed. Work on the border is intensive and noticeable, and on the other side, miles of rubble remain in the villages of southern Lebanon.

“The residents, who were dispersed in hotels and homes across the country, don’t see what’s happening on the ground,” Ifroni said. “They don’t see the new outposts, the walls, the forces.”
Ifroni spends a lot of time speaking with residents of the council, who are spread across the country, working on maintaining trust. He said that many residents are concerned that an October 7-style invasion could happen next in northern Israel, not recognizing that the incapacitated Hezbollah wouldn’t be able to carry out such an attack.
But not everyone shares Ifroni’s belief that the new security infrastructure is enough. Naor Shmiah, the head of the emergency response team at Kibbutz Manara, located less than 100 yards from the Lebanon border, has strongly criticized the military’s readiness.

“Why did we evacuate? Because we realized the army had no plan or manpower to repel a potential attack,” he said. “In my opinion, an event of this magnitude didn’t need to happen to say ‘you failed to protect us.’”
“The debate over our security has become a matter of right vs. left,” Shmiah added. “I told people we won’t return to the kibbutz without an operation in Lebanon, and then they called me a warmonger, that I’m on the side of the government. From my perspective, everyone should go back home now. But the situation is that the IDF has no real plan to protect us from an attack.”
He said that Hezbollah has carried out provocations and deliberate fires at the border as a result of the Israeli military’s non-offensive posture. “I want to live here in security, that’s all that interests me,” he said.

At Kibbutz Manara and other towns on the border, there are significant efforts to improve independent defense systems by acquiring cameras, AI sensors, and advanced weapons and by carrying out security drills. Shmiah said that such precautions are still no substitute for the army.
“In the end, we’ll need the army,” he said. “But the mindset needs to change—they work for us, not the other way around. There’s no such thing as a brigade commander coming and dismissing me. Senior commanders need to be accountable to the settlements because, well, yes, we don’t trust their work.”
Similarly, Ifroni described a significant shift in approach toward the military in the Mateh Asher Regional Council. The council’s emergency readiness teams have been upgraded to defense units. This includes material aspects—upgrading security technologies, weapons in safes in every home, installing enhanced shelters better than those provided by the military. But the most important change is in mindset: a change to the security arrangements and responsibilities between the military and the towns themselves.
While in the past, individual security officers made decisions based on what they felt comfortable with, now Ifroni is calling for clear orders from a company commander. He said that he will remain vigilant, even though his faith in the military has almost totally returned.
“My children are in the army,” he said. “We have no other army. I will demand that they fulfill their responsibility.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.