Tension is Increasing in Lebanon Where Israeli and Syrian Troops Are Facing Each Other

The front line in Lebanon, where Israeli and Syrian troops face each other across a few hundred yards of open terrain has become a focal point of the world news media in recent days.

Reporters and television crews from many countries are on hand in anticipation of hostilities following Syria’s mobilization of its reserves Monday and a practice call-up of Israeli reserves today — which the Israelis insist is a limited drill planned long before the current escalation of tension. (See separate story.)

The front remained quiet. But the media had a chance to observe interesting differences between the Israelis and Syrians. On the physical level, Israeli units are warm and dry in outposts insulated against the cold, damp weather heralding the onset of a harsh winter in the Lebanese hills. The Syrian troops, in contrast, huddled in wet open trenches within sight of the Israeli positions.

A DRAMATIC EVENT

But an event which some reporters found more dramatic and significant than military operations occurred yesterday when Israeli Premier Yitzhak Shamir toured Israel Defense Force positions, accompanied by Chief of Staff Gen. Moshe Levy and other senior officers. Shamir, a Likud hardliner, was confronted by a reserve soldier, a kibbutznik, who told the Premier: “I have more of a statement than a question: I feel like an actor in a film of the Germans in Europe in World War II or the Russians in Afghanistan. I am on the roads here a lot and I wonder what we are doing to the local population. How long are we going to remain here?”

Shamir retorted, apparently without rancor, that such comparisons should not be made. In any event, the IDF will remain in Lebanon only long enough to ensure Israel’s security, he said.

The confrontation took place in the presence of the media. Shamir told reporters later that he was impressed by the behavior of most of the soldiers. He admitted that there was what he called a “very vocal minority” imbued with “negative ideas.”

He added, “But this is no discredit. It proves the tolerance of Israel and its democratic basis.” Shamir left to the imagination of the journalists whether such an exchange could have taken place between a Syrian soldier and President Hafez Assad.

Other soldiers fully supported the Israeli presence in Lebanon. They told the Premier they were angered by the relatively light punishment meted out to reservists who refuse to serve in Lebanon. Many are simply assigned to other duties. Those who face military courts are usually sentenced to no more than 35 days in jail.