The Israel Defense Forces will award campaign ribbons to soldiers who fought in the Lebanon security zone after 1982 at a special ceremony on June 7. The event was initially scheduled to take place on May 24, the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from the zone but was postponed due to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
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Following years of dispute, the government voted to award the ribbons on March 1. The move was supported by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, and former chief of staff Shaul Mofaz, who headed a special committee to have the period of September 1982-May 2000 recognized as an official Israeli military campaign.
Ribbons will be awarded to soldiers and IDF personnel who served in units that operated in Lebanon from Sept. 30, 1982-May 24, 2000. The government has also approved campaign ribbons for members of the South Lebanon Army, which fought alongside IDF soldiers during Israel's presence in southern Lebanon.
Several military officials are scheduled to appear at a special seminar on June 7, among them Kochavi, members of the IDF General Staff and brigadier generals, colonels, and students of the Institute for National Security Studies who served during the campaign. An official military ceremony will be held at the end of the day, in which the defense minister will present the first ribbon.
Fallen soldiers will receive ribbons and medals posthumously. IDF soldiers left disabled as a result of their service in Lebanon will receive their ribbons and medals at ceremonies held in their respective units.
According to IDF data, some 3,100 officers who are currently serving in the IDF are eligible for the ribbon, as well as 2,300 families who lost loved ones in Lebanon. Thousands of more disabled veterans, tens of thousands of active reservists, and hundreds of thousands of exempt reservists who served in the buffer zone are also eligible.
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