Northern Front Ceasefire and the Road Ahead
The Lebanon ceasefire has reached a crucial stage, with Israeli troops largely withdrawing from Lebanon on February 18 and hostilities with Hezbollah generally tapering off in recent weeks. However, the northern front’s future remains clouded by uncertainty. Israel’s February 17 announcement that it will indefinitely retain five strategic outposts in southern Lebanon as a buffer against future Hezbollah attacks drew strong protests from Lebanon’s leaders, including a statement accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire deal and calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene. Despite the ceasefire, thousands of Israelis remain out of their homes in northern Israel, fearing a resumption of full-scale war. Hezbollah, while possessing a small fraction of its pre-10/7 weapons arsenal, also remains active in southern Lebanon, requiring periodic Israeli airstrikes.
To assess Israel’s next steps to continue securing its north and the viability of the ceasefire moving forward, JINSA will host a discussion featuring two experts on the northern front, JINSA Visiting Fellows IDF BG (ret.) Effie Defrin and IDF BG Shai Klapper. BG (ret.) Defrin was responsible for Israel’s military coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces as head of the IDF International Cooperation Division from 2019-2024. BG Klapper commanded the IDF’s 91st Division, responsible for defending Israel’s border with Lebanon, from 2022-2025 and helped lead Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon in September 2024. The discussion will be moderated by JINSA’s Vice President for Policy Blaise Misztal.
|
Tuesday, February 25 | 1:00PM ET |
This webinar is open exclusively to JINSA RSVPs must be received via the button Once your registration is confirmed, you will |
IDF BG (ret.) Effie Defrin IDF BG (ret.) Effie Defrin is a Visiting Fellow at JINSA and a former participant in JINSA’s 2019 Brigadier Generals Military Leadership Education Program. Prior to joining JINSA, BG Defrin served as the head of the IDF’s International Cooperation Division, and previously served as Israel’s Defense Attache to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and Commander of the IDF’s 27th Armored Brigade. |
IDF BG Shai Klapper IDF BG Shai Klapper has been a Visiting Fellow at JINSA since February 2025. From 2022-25, BG Klapper served as the commander of the IDF’s 91st Division, tasked with defending Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. During Israel’s 2024 Operation Northern Arrows against Hezbollah, BG Klapper was responsible for the 91st Division’s ground operations into Lebanon to destroy the terror group’s positions and weapons caches. As a colonel, BG Klapper commanded the Golani Brigade from 2018-2020. |
Blaise Misztal Blaise Misztal is the Vice President for Policy at JINSA. His research interests include Iran and its nuclear program, U.S.-Turkey relations, countering extremism, and strategic competition. He served as the Executive Director of the Task Force on Extremism in Fragile States, a congressionally mandated project convened by the U.S. Institute of Peace, and Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Program. He has testified before Congress and published widely—including op-eds in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, and Roll Call. Misztal holds an M.Phil. in political science from Yale and an A.B. with honors from the University of Chicago. |
Thank you for your interest in this event. Unfortunately the it has passed, but please check the events page for upcoming events.