ANALYSIS Withdrawal from Lebanon not likely to happen soon

JERUSALEM, April 1 (JTA) — Israel’s decision to adopt a 20-year-old United Nations resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon is not likely to result is any pullback in the near future. The goal of U.N. Resolution 425 was an Israeli withdrawal that would coincide with the Lebanese government assuming control over southern Lebanon and responsibility for ensuring security in the region. In fact, Israel made clear in its decision on Wednesday that any withdrawal would be contingent upon reaching security arrangements with Lebanon. This is not likely to happen soon, given Lebanon’s negative reaction to the Israeli Inner Security Cabinet decision. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision a clear indication of Israel’s seriousness about resolving the Lebanon issue. It marked a shift in Israeli policy, with the government agreeing for the first time that a withdrawal could happen without an official peace agreement with Lebanon. “I think this is an indication of our seriousness, an indication of our intention to resolve the Lebanon question once and for all. We hope that other governments, and especially the government of Lebanon, will heed this call and enter into a discussion with us on how to implement it,” Netanyahu told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem. Netanyahu stressed that Israel would not take any steps to endanger the security of Israeli residents of the North. He also emphasized that the decision was not an attempt to circumvent other paths of dialogue. Netanyahu said Israel would continue its negotiations with the Palestinians, and would welcome a resumption of peace negotiations with Syria, as well as an eventual peace treaty with Lebanon. Both Syria and Lebanon dismissed the Israeli decision, calling it a “political maneuver.” Leaders from both countries reiterated their position that any Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon must be unconditional. Wednesday’s decision, adopted unanimously by the Inner Security Cabinet, comprising 11 of the 18 members of the government, was based on a proposal put forward by Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai. Ariel Sharon, Israel’s national infrastructure Minister, who himself had put forward a proposal for a unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon, also voted for Mordechai’s plan. Netanyahu phoned U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, currently in Beijing, to update him on the decision. Annan, who recently visited the Middle East, welcomed the move, and said the international community must take note of it. The U.N. Security Council passed resolution 425 in 1978, following Israel’s first invasion into Lebanon. As the Inner Security Cabinet met Wednesday in Tel Aviv, Labor Knesset member Yossi Beilin unveiled his own plan for an Israeli pullback from Lebanon. Beilin, who heads a public lobby for a unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon, called the government decision an “important step.” But he still criticized what he said was the decision’s lack of real content. “They do not have a specific plan, with timetables and mechanisms, for a withdrawal from Lebanon,” Beilin said. Beilin’s proposal calls for, among other things, a unilateral Israeli pullback, accompanied by the construction of an advanced border fence. He also is calling for a stronger mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and for clear messages to be sent to Lebanon and Syria, via a third party such as the United States, of the consequences of attacks on Israel.