Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens said today that Syria should be given a “few weeks” to decide whether to agree to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in the wake of the agreement announced Friday for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. (See separate story.)
“It would be wise for all of us, for the U.S., for Lebanon and Israel to give it a little time, see what happens, give them (the Syrians) a chance to make up their minds,” Arens said in an interview from Israel on the CBS-TV “Face the Nation” program. “But if within a few weeks it becomes clear they have no intention of moving out, then, of course, we’ll (the U.S., Israel and Lebanon) have to get together and discuss it,” Arens said.
He stressed that Israel’s withdrawal is “dependent” on the simultaneous departure of Syrian forces from Lebanon. He said that Secretary of State George Shultz is “hopeful” that the problem can be worked out. “My guess is that they (the Syrians) are thinking very hard about it, ” Arens said. But he added that he has “no grounds to be overly optimistic at the moment.”
He said the Syrians, who now control 50 percent of Lebanon, have sought to “intimidate the Lebanese” and have been “posturing” before Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement. He said he believed they will continue to posture until the agreement is actually signed. Arens said, however, that he did not know what would happen then.
THE SYRIAN-SOVIET FACTOR
But Arens said he “would hope” that the Soviet Union does not have the type of “veto” over the Syrians that would prevent their withdrawal if they decided to do so. He noted that before Israel went into Lebanon II months ago, Syrian-controlled Lebanon had provided an “umbrella” for the Palestine Liberation Organization to carry out its terrorist activities against Israel and world-wide.
According to Arens, the Soviets were “not unhappy” with that situation since both Syria and the PLO are Soviet surrogrates and if the Syrians leave Lebanon, the Soviets will “lose their influence in Lebanon.”
Arens said that Syria is “getting ready” militarily for war with Israel and has demanded and received weapons from the Soviet Union to give it “parity” with the Israel Defense Force, He said Syria has received the best weapons the Soviets have, some of it “very good” and some of it not as good as the parallel American or Israeli equipment. But Arens said Israel does not know if the Syrians want war and if they do, whether they would have Soviet support.
The Israeli Defense Minister would not say whether the Israeli-Lebanese agreement worked out by Shultz last week included a U.S. promise to lift the suspension of the process for the sale of 75 F-16 jet fighter-bombers to Israel. He said that was a question that would have to be answered by Shultz or by President Reagan. Shultz indicated to reporters travelling with him that Israel would get the planes but the announcement would be made officially by Reagan.
Arens stressed that the agreement has put Israel and the U.S. “back in harmony.” He noted that the differences of opinion over Lebanon between Israel and the U.S. “ruffled feathers” but the basic relationship between the two countries did not depend on whether they agreed or disagreed over various issues.
He said revival of the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation between Israel and the U.S. was not discussed during Shultz’s current visit to the Middle East and said it was “premature” to deal with that issue now. Arens called the agreement with Lebanon a “great step ahead” in Israeli-Lebanese relations, declaring that it goes a “long way toward a peace agreement.”
He said Israel and Lebanon now share a “common interest” in having Syria withdraw its troops and Keeping the PLO terrorists from returning to Lebanon and this common ground is the basis for a “good relationship.”
Arens said Israel was “pleased” that Lebanon is now willing to have Maj. Saad Haddad return to the Lebanese army as an officer. He said they would find that Israel’s “high opinion” of his ability to fight terrorists is “not at all exaggerated. “
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