The June 1985 Withdrawal That Never Was

Abstract This article revisits the 1983 Israel-Lebanon Agreement using new archival material, mainly from the Israel State Archives, with three main goals. First, it demonstrates the centrality of the agreement for Israeli schemes in Lebanon and argues that Israeli demands during the negotiations shed new light on its decision to stay in Lebanon in June 1985, despite the government decision of January 1985 to withdraw to the international border. Second, it reconsiders Syria's ‘veto power’ over the agreement given Israel's objectives to establish a security zone in south Lebanon. Finally, by using new archival evidence, it completes our historical knowledge about the road to the agreement and its aftermath.