As Lebanese voters elect their new government and with the prospect of Hizbullah growingstronger sparking worldwide attention, South Lebanese Army veterans living in Israel are concerned.
The 2,600 former SLA servicemen and their families, who relocated to Israel afterit pulled out of south Lebanon in 2000 – mostly for security reasons – know that if Hizbullah sweeps Beirut's parliament, their last chances of returning to their homeland will essentially disappear.
"The Lebanese people must realize the ramifications of having the Shiite bloc, headed by Hizbullah, taking the parliament," a former SLA officer told Ynet. "It would be detrimental to the economy and education and it will ruin Lebanon's chancesof independence and rehabilitation."
"Lebanon is our homeland. We hope that even if we can’t go back, our children could," one of the SLA wives said. "Israel has done right by us, but we will never give up on our home. Today's elections will decide if Lebanon is heading towards openness and modernization or if it slides back to darker times, under the patronage of Syrian President Bashar Assad andhis ally, Hizbullah Chief Nasrallah ."
The Lebanese electoral race is expected to be extremely close, with analysts predicting that the Christian vote would be the deciding one.