Antoine Lahad (born 1927) a Lebanese general, was the leader of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) from 1984 until 2000, when Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon and the SLA was dissolved.
Born into a Maronite Catholic family in 1927 in the village of Al Qattara, Antoine Lahad graduated from the Lebanese Military Academy in 1952. Lahad took control of the SLA in 1984, following the death of Saad Haddad, the founder of the SLA. Lahad was a Lebanese Army Major General reserve officer who was close to Maronite Christian Camille Chamoun.
Lahad was condemned to death, among other sentences, by Hezbollah following Israel’s occupation of Southern Lebanon. Men were required to sign written pledges not to visit with Lahad or his people if they were travelling into Southern Lebanon. His headquarters were in Marja’uyun, which flew an Israeli flag flanked by two Lebanon flags. Also in the compound was the Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network.
In 1988, a Lebanese woman, Souha Bechara, tried to assassinate Lahad. She was raised an Eastern Orthodox and joined the Communist party. She was tasked with assassinating Lahad and disguised herself as an aerobics instructor to visit with Lahad’s family. On November 17, 1988 she had tea with Lahad’s wife. When Lahd returned home, she shot him twice in the chest. She was detained by his security team. Lahd spent eight weeks in the hospital and suffered health complications leaving his left arm paralyzed.
At the time of Israel’s withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000, Lahad was determined to carry on against Hezbullah. He pleaded for support from Israel, "I need three things: 1 - I need Israel not to stop the money, keep the flow of money coming so I can keep pay my soldiers. 2- I need logistical support so the SLA will have adequate ammunition 3- I need the border to remain open because I don't have sophisticated hospitals in the South, and in this instance all my wounded should be transported to northern Israel to be treated. When I'll have those three things, I can hold for 200 years. That's all I need."
Lahad never received the support, and the SLA collapsed following Israel's withdrawal. At the time, Lahad was in Paris with his family. He came to Israel after the remainder of the SLA disintegrated. In Lebanon, Lahad was sentenced to death for treason in absentia in case he ever returned. In a meeting with the Lebanese Government Coordinator Uri Lubrani in May 2000, Lahad expressed deep concern surrounding the appropriate treatment of SLA members who ended up in Israel following the Israeli withdrawal. Contrary to contemporary media reports, Lahad stated that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had not tricked him. He highlighted the importance of his country’s cooperation with Israel and cited the United Nations Security Council resolution 425 as a legitimate reason for Barak’s withdrawal of Israeli armed forces. Lubrani assured Lahd that SLA members would receive appropriate treatment and thanked him and his men for their long struggle for peace. Soon afterwards Lahad went to France to meet up with his family. Despite his family members living in France, the French authorities denied him permission to live in the country.
After being refused the right to settle in France, Lahad moved to Israel, and opened a Lebanese restaurant in Tel Aviv. He was therefore nicknamed “General Hummus” by journalists. He released a Hebrew language autobiography in 2004, entitled, In the Midst of a Storm: An Autobiography.
In November 2006, Lahad had an interview with Ynet. He asserted his opinion that Syria was behind the assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, “I have no doubt about who assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel last week. It was the Syrians, there’s no question. It could be that one of their proxies in Lebanon carried out the actual assassination, but the order came from Damascus.”
As of March 19, 2009 the Lebanese parliament was considering a law to grant amnesty for all crimes committed before April 27, 2005. If passed, this would include charges against Lahad.
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