Premier Menachem Begin acknowledged today that there are several difficulties in the way of implementing Israel’s agreement with Lebanon, chiefly Syria’s refusal to cooperate by agreeing to withdraw its forces from that country.
But he told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that Israel should not present any ultimatums but should draw up a scenario in the event Syria remains intransigent.
Begin’s appearance before the committee exposed sharp differences in the opposition leadership over what course should be followed. Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres urged Israel to set a target date for the pull-out of its forces from Lebanon, regardless of what the Syrians do. Otherwise, “We shall remain stuck in the mud of rivalry between the communities in Lebanon without being able to reach agreement,” he warned.
RABIN SHARES BEGIN’S VIEWS
Peres predicted that the Syrians would not withdraw but would force Israel into a war of attrition in the Shouf mountains and the Bekaa valley. Former Premier Yitzhak Rabin said, however, that he shared the Prime Minister’s views and proposed that Israel demand that the U.S. exert more pressure on Syria. Begin promptly agreed “with Rabin’s words” to which the former Premier responded, “This will give me trouble in the (Labor) Party. “
Former Foreign Minister Abba Eban said Secretary of State George Shultz told him, ‘Those who send us to Damascus with the hope that we (the U.S.) will do the work for them actually send us to Moscow to discuss the Golan Heights. ” Eban observed, “Ever since the establishment of the State there was never a Soviet intervention which was to Israel’s advantage.”
Begin said he had never heard anything from Shultz which implied that negotiations with the Syrians meant giving up the Golan Heights which Israel annexed in 1981.
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.
