Premier Menachem Begin today urged President Elias Sarkis of Lebanon to come to Jerusalem to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel. “I am also willing to go in a civilian plane to Beirut to reach a peace agreement,” Begin said in a speech opening the summer session of the Knesset. He predicted such an agreement could be reached within several days.
The Premier spoke as Israeli planes attacked terrorist targets in Lebanon for the second consecutive day. A military spokesman said today the planes attacked terrorist concentrations near the village of Rihan, about 12 miles north of the border. All the planes returned safely. Yesterday, Israeli planes attacked terrorist concentrations at Naher el Bored near Tripoli in north Lebanon.
Begin told the Knesset that Israel will hit the terrorists no matter where they are so that there will be no repetition, such as the one at Nahariya two weeks ago in which tour Israelis, including two small children, were killed. “We shall hit those murderers wherever possible, in every place with all our power, from the sea, the land and the air, until they are no longer able to execute their murderous plots,” be declared.
“We know where their headquarters are, as well as their guns and arsenals,” the Premier stressed. “We shall hit them in order to destroy them, make them scatter away.”
TELLS SYRIA TO REMOVE FORCES FROM LEBANON
Begin urged Syria to remove its forces from Lebanon and pledged full cooperation with the United Nations interim Force in Lebanon. However, he stressed that Israel would continue to support the Christians and Shiite Moslems in southern Lebanon in their struggle against Palestinian infiltration. Calling Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat the “Palestinian Idi Amin,” Begin noted that “the announcement of the terror organizations that they will continue their barbaric acts proves that there is a constant threat of violence.”
The Premier said the problem of 165,000 Palestinians in Lebanon could be solved by resettling them in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Libya. “There are very big countries, rich in resources and petroleum, with millions of square kilometers of land which can give the refugees homes among their brethren who speak the same language and share the same culture and religion he said.
Israel is ready to cooperate in this resettlement, Begin said. He had originally planned to suggest that Israel would take in some of the Palestinians, but decided not to when several ministers objected at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
EGYPT ANGRY OVER ISRAELI BOMBINGS
Meanwhile, in Cairo, Boutros Ghali, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said he has asked U.S. Ambassador Hermann Eilts to convey to Washington Egypt’s request that the United States persuade Israel to stop its attacks on the terrorist bases in Lebanon.
“Egypt has asked the U.S. officially, in its capacity as a full partner in establishing peace, to intervene with the Israeli government to stop these aggressions which expose the region to danger,” Ghali was quoted as saying to reporters. He condemned Israel’s air attack yesterday and said they undermined the efforts for a permanent and just peace in the Middle East.
(In Washington, the United States withheld its view on Begin’s proposal for an Israeli-Lebanese peace treaty. At the same time, the Carter Administration, in response to Israeli raids against terrorist bases in Lebanon, declared it is “increasingly concerned about violence” in that country)
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