Yeah I was thinking. They are annexing Lebanon, pushing the frontier forward as it were, taking up a better strategic position. Kind of like the Soviet Union and their satellite states. I was figuring earlier that Israel has imperial ambitions in the Middle East, when I went and tried to disprove my idea I stumbled upon this fact that there’s very, very few of them (inhabitants), and that it simply wouldn’t be possible.

Then again, during colonial times the Brits, Belgians, French et al, managed to control vast swathes of land using just a few thousand troops, officers, and administrators. They simply controlled the local population by pitting them against one another along tribal lines and arming and helping basically one side and tribal warlords. Bringing them into the fold so to speak. It was very successful, even though the imperialists are long gone (they stay in control by other means these days), the infighting, civil wars, massacres, and local genocidal ambitions usually keeps going along those lines that were established in and around the 1800’s.

One could do that, and have, with Shia/Sunni, or Kurds, basically any religious divide or ethnic minority in the Middle East too, if one were so inclined.