Three Cabinet ministers have made equivocal statements about Israel’s intentions regarding Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat’s planned evacuation from northern Lebanon under United Nations protection.
Communications Minister Mordechai Zipori, addressing army officers here today, said Israel has made no promises that it would allow Arafat to leave Tripoli. He added, however, that as a law-abiding country, Israel would not attack foreign naval vessels, presumably referring to those that would escort Arafat and his 4,000-odd PLO fighters to safety. Zipori stressed that it was still Israel’s policy to seek out and hit terrorists wherever they could be found.
Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai, addressing a forum of Likud’s Liberal Party wing, spoke in a similar vein. He said that Israel not only has given no promise to allow Arafat to leave Lebanon but it has not promised to refrain from attacking the PLO evacuees when they leave. He stressed that Israel’s policy is to wage a “war of destruction” against the terrorists.
Zipori and Modai were less forthright than Deputy Premier David Levy who was quoted in a French newspaper interview as saying that no action would be taken against Arafat’s departure. That statement apparently annoyed other government leaders who would prefer to keep Arafat guessing about Israel’s intentions. But no one has contradicted Levy.
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