Israel Defense Minister Ariel Sharon declared today that 1983 “will be a year of peace between Israel and Lebanon. “Sharon was interviewed on the ABC-TV David Brinkley Journal” program via satellite from Jerusalem. He appeared along with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Ashraf Ghorbal, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States.
The discussion centered on the upcoming negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and the issue of Israel’s settlement policies on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Kissinger said that “as a general proposition, the Israelis should suspend the settlements after the peace process is started.” But he saw no reason for them to do so in advance of negotiations.
Sharon devoted most of his remarks to the negotiations with Lebanon. “I believe we have got good news for all peace-loving people in the world from Jerusalem and Beirut today where it was announced that we are to start negotiations this coming Tuesday,” he said. (See story on P.I.)
According to Sharon, “The negotiations will be on normalization of relations between Lebanon and Israel, about security arrangements and about withdrawal of Israeli forces which will be part of the withdrawal of all external forces in Lebanon. I believe that the new year of 1983 will be a year of peace between Israel and Lebanon which will move forward all the peace processes in the Middle East,” he said.
ISRAEL WILL NOT INSIST ON TREATY NOW
Asked whether Israel would demand that Lebanon sign a peace treaty before it withdraws its forces from that country, Sharon replied, “We do not insist on a direct or immediate peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon … But Israel, in order to move forward and understanding the difficulties … decided not to insist on an immediate peace treaty now. What we are doing now is a kind of ‘corridor’ to a peace treaty in the future,” he said.
He said Israeli troops would not remain in the 40-45 kilometer border security zone “forever” but that matter would be decided at the negotiations beginning Tuesday. The most important security arrangement is to prevent Lebanon from ever becoming a base for “local, regional and international syndicated terrorism,” he said.
Ghorbal said Egypt “would like to see everyone in the Arab world at peace with Israel.” But he thought Lebanon should sign a treaty with Israel through “free will” and not while the Israeli army is in the country as an “occupying force.” With respect to the West Bank settlements, the Egyptian envoy said “All of us in the area feel that we are in a race and that a fait accompli is being established by Israel in a way.” Egypt and the other Arab states must find a solution before the fait accompli becomes “the order of the day,” he said.
KISSINGER’S VIEW
Sharon, for his part defended the Israeli government’s settlement policies. They are, he said, “a national security concept. We never regarded the settlements as an obstacle to peace. They are not in contradiction with the plan that was decided at Camp David … and we will move forward on the autonomy plan.”
Kissinger observed that the settlement policy of Premier Menachem Begin’s government has been rejected by two American Presidents. “I don’t know of any administration that will accept it,” he said. He added that he saw “no reason” why the Israelis should not continue what they are doing” as long as King Hussein has not agreed to enter negotiations. “But once negotiations start, then we should return to the Camp David formula and ask Israel to suspend settlements,” he said.
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