Israel’s Consul General in New York, Naphtali Lavie, said today that the military phase of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon- dubbed “Operation Peace for Galilee” – would end “in a day or two, ” barring a possible confrontation with Syrian forces.
Pointing to a map of the Palestine Liberation Organization strongholds overrun thus far by Israel, Lavie told reporters at a press conference for the Jewish news media, “the aim of this operation is to drive the PLO out of the area, where they will not have the advantage of keeping the Israeli settlements in their range.” He added “We hope that this operation will be completed in a day or two, so that the existing pockets of the PLO that are still holding on in the area will cease to exist.”
Completion of the military operation should give way, within two or three days, to a second, political stage, in which a restoration of authority to Lebanon’s central government will be sought, Lavie said. But he added that this will depend on the response of Syria, whose forces have already clashed with Israel’s in the air, over Lebanon and the Galilee, resulting in the downing of five Syrian planes. Lavie, who would not confirm reports that ground battles between Israel and Syrian forces have already taken place in Lebanon, warned that “if the Syrians have any intentions to expand their involvement and engage themselves in battle on the ground, this will change the whole scope of the operation.”
DEALING WITH SYRIA
If Syria refrains from engaging Israeli forces in Lebanon, Lavie said “We will have to deal with the Syrian presence in Lebanon …. in a different way.” How Israel decides to deal with the Syrian presence, he said, would depend to some extent on the position taken by the U.S. “We would like the United States to understand why Israel had to act,” Lavie said. He added that the U.S. “can also help in restoring law and order in the area by supporting a central government in Beirut, the Lebanese government, by giving it strength to take over responsibility and to restore its authority in the area that we have cleared out of the PLO elements.”
Defending Israel’s action in Lebanon, Lavie said it will benefit not only the Lebanese people and Israel, but “the whole Western world,” whose interests are linked to stability in the area. In this context, he suggested that Israel might be giving impetus to the stalled autonomy negotiations, by bringing an end to “the political and psychological consequences of PLO presence in the Middle East. “If the PLO threat will not exist here, then we have a fair chance that leaders in the West Bank — Judaea, Samaria and Gaza — will not be intimidated in the future and will be able to join the talks on the autonomy implementation,” Lavie said, adding that Jordan’s King Hussein might also be induced to join in the talks.
NO ILLUSIONS
Lavie stressed that Israel had no illusion about eliminating the PLO entirely, and sought only to eliminate the immediate threat to Israel’s security by hitting at the organization’s infrastructure in Lebanon. “I do not believe we can put an end to the PLO as such,” Lavie said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Consulate reported that students of the Manhattan Day School have prepared gift packages to be distributed to Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. The packaged, which include books, magazines and clothing, will be shipped to Israel by El Al, and distributed through Israel’s Committee for the Association for the Welfare of Soldiers.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
