Project Details
Lebanon Does Not Believe in Tears
Director: Avi Bohbot
Producer: David Ben Zino
For about eighteen years, the IDF was entrenched in Lebanon, with its soldiers exposed to numerous attacks. On the eve of the 1996 Israeli Knesset elections, a Lebanese TV cameraman rushed to document the scene of an attack in southern Lebanon. He arrived just moments before another explosive detonated, capturing the death of four Israeli soldiers on film.
The IDF granted the Harush family, who lost their son in the incident, permission to visit the site of Captain Moshe Harush’s death in Lebanon. This film follows the harrowing journey of an Israeli family, composed of both secular and religious members, as well as right-wing and left-wing individuals. It is a rare visit by an Israeli family from Ashdod into the heart of the conflict in Lebanon, to the site where their son was killed in a double attack.
“Lebanon Does Not Believe in Tears” documents the family’s dangerous journey to Lebanon. On the morning they reach Fatima Gate, the Good Fence border crossing, they hear the sounds of artillery and gunfire in the northern horizon. By a cruel twist of fate, another attack occurs on the very day of their visit.
While we still bleed from the tragic outcomes of the Second Lebanon War, the film reconstructs a double attack from the First Lebanon War. The reconstruction is aided by archival footage and includes authentic documentation of the attack itself, captured on camera.
The film was shot in Israel and Lebanon over twenty-five years ago and has never been broadcast. It has only been shown to the family and in a few private screenings. The production received support from the Second Authority’s Snunit Fund, the municipality of Ashdod, and the Ministry of Defense.
Background of the Film
They say that trouble will come from the north, and it seems that the north refuses to bring us harm. Residents of the border settlements in the south suspect that Hezbollah is digging tunnels beneath them, similar to those in Gaza. The northern border has always threatened Israel’s peace, and now, with the rise of ISIS, the Islamic State, and the increased armament of Hezbollah, the threat is growing. In recent decades, the situation has worsened. Israel decided to intervene in Lebanon when the Palestinian Fatah organization settled there, launching an attack on Lebanon in June 1982. Both the producer and director of this film were in Lebanon at that time. The director served in a relatively quiet eastern sector and was appointed commander of the Metula Police Camp, which served as the rear for his unit—a calm yet crucial station on the way to the Good Fence.
A few months after the easy conquest of Lebanon, the terrorist organizations in Lebanon retaliated and began attacking IDF soldiers. After 18 years and around 600 Israeli soldiers killed, the IDF withdrew from Lebanon. This did not prevent the Second Lebanon War, nor the Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli strikes in Beirut and across Lebanon.
The recent years have been filled with analyses of the tragic outcomes of the Second Lebanon War, a wound that has yet to heal in Israeli society. The film aptly depicts the depth of the tragedy faced by ordinary soldiers and their families, shedding light on Israel’s broader picture as a nation dealing with diverse and unrelenting threats.
Within the film, the disputes that have divided Israeli society for decades surface within a single family: to enter Lebanon or not, to stay in Lebanon or not, to attack in Lebanon or not? The film aims to present an authentic, human mirror reflecting the heavy price paid by soldiers and their families for Israel’s defense.
The Attack and Media Coverage
Another layer the film addresses is the media’s handling of the incident, ending with an impromptu press conference filmed on the day of the family’s entry into Lebanon. We attempted to capture the inevitable clichés of such situations, which are difficult to accept in retrospect.
Here is a rough quote from the journalistic report: June 1996. Four officers and soldiers from the Lebanon Division headquarters in Marjayoun rush to the site of a “terror attack” to assist “our forces.” A Lebanese TV cameraman arrives at the scene to document the aftermath, capturing the second explosive device that was remotely detonated from an ambush. “Our forces suffered four casualties.”
“Terror attack,” “roadside bomb,” “encounter”—these harsh words have become worn-out and tired over the years. But death remains death without quotation marks. Death in an attack is not something that can be watched with indifference, and this film is no exception. Our Israeli ears have become accustomed to the clichés of our existential struggle, mantras that pass over us like summer clouds, fading away in our daily lives filled with “events.”
In “Lebanon Does Not Believe in Tears,” these words gain a tangible and chilling meaning in their realism. This is what death looks like up close—painful and stark. The film follows the journey of a traditional, brave, and unique family to the site of their son Moshe’s death in southern Lebanon—one of those “four casualties.” It is a harrowing journey that reconstructs the events of the attack that occurred north of Marjayoun, using testimonies from witnesses and participants and the actual footage of the attack, from the second explosion to the careful treatment of the wounded and the evacuation of the casualties.
Through simple sounds and images, the film attempts to strip the clichés of Lebanon of their borrowed meanings, restoring them with new, horrifying realism. “Terror attack” means a terror attack, and “four casualties” is not something that can be watched with indifference, even without a single drop of blood shown on the screen.
