Begin Calls on Cabinet to ‘hold the Fire’ Against Sharon

Premier Menachem Begin called on Cabinet ministers to “hold the fire” against Defense Minister Ariel Sharon in order to preserve the unity of the government at this delicate stage of the negotiations to get the PLO forces out of Lebanon.

Begin sought to cool down tempers over the weekend following the confrontation between the ministers and Sharori at a Cabinet meeting last Thursday, a meeting that was described as the most tense and bitter session ever held. Sharon, who found himself almost completely isolated at that session, was under fire for the heavy bombardment of west Beirut earlier in the day, a bombardment which almost all the ministers criticized as not in accordance with government decisions.

The heavy bombardment of west Beirut caused President Reagan to call Begin to express his “outrage” and to emphasize “that Israel’s action halted” U.S. special envoy Ambassador Philip Habib’s “negotiations for the peaceful resolution of the Beirut crisis when they were at the point of success.” Reagan also stressed that Habib cannot complete his negotiations unless there is a complete cease-fire. The negotiations were halted Thursday. Israel declared a cease-fire after almost 10 hours of continuous raids in waves and the talks were resumed Friday.

SHARON HAS BEGIN’S FULL CONFIDENCE

Despite the sharp exchanges between Begin and Sharon last week, political circles said today that the Premier has full confidence in his Defense Minister and that “there was no breach and no crisis of confidence between the two.” Begin reportedly stressed that he does not intend to fire Sharon. The Premier told the Cabinet meeting today that “we should forget” last Thursday’s meeting. “We have no time to waste on ourselves. We must take care of state affairs.”

In a meeting with Begin after last week’s Cabinet session, Sharon reportedly demanded clearer guidelines for implementing government decisions regarding the war in Lebanon. Under those guidelines. Begin would receive immediate reports on developments in the battle field, and Sharon would ask for Begin’s approval for any intensive employment of land or air forces against terrorist targets in west Beirut. Begin, for his part, is expected to take a more active role in making this determination and will undertake all the negotiations with Habib.

Meanwhile, Sharon made it clear yesterday that he has no intention of resigning. He said in an interview with Israel Radio that he had always carried out the Cabinet decisions. He sought to play down his isolation within the Cabinet because of his recent decisions to heavily bomb west Beirut and to move the Israel Defense Force into the city.

Sharon conceded that Begin may not always have been informed in advance of “every flight of planes” but contended that “all exceptional activities” had always been cleared with the Cabinet before they were carried out.

Sharon declined to answer most questions about the attacks on him at last week’s Cabinet session, saying he would not engage in “scandal-mongering and gossip or tittle-tattle” and thus add to the “war of the Jews.”

Sharon said his aims in ordering the bombings and Beirut area attacks had been to wipe out the PLO leadership and expel the PLO from Beirut, to defend Israeli troops and to help speed up the diplomatic process on PLO evacuation from Beirut.

He added that the raids had been in accordance with government policy and instructions to respond to any PLO breach of a cease-fire by action by land, sea or air to afford Israeli soldiers with adequate protection.

Sharon said that the heavy attacks of the past two weeks had actually led to progress mode in Habib’s negotiations. He said that Israel had gone to war “to wipe out the terrorist bases in Lebanon, which had become a center for world terrorism” and to do so had had to attack terrorist headquarters inside Beirut.

He did not mention the original and more limited war aim, of merely clearing terrorists from artillery and rocket range of Israeli settlements.

Sharon stressed that civilians had never been knowingly attacked in Israeli raids, though he admitted that some civilians may have been hurt because they had been deliberately used as a screen by the terrorists. He charged that reports of civilian casualties had been deliberately exaggerated by the foreign news media.

EITAN GIVES A DIFFERENT VERSION

In a special interview, Chief of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan appeared to give a different version of of the reason for Israeli bombing raids from that presented by Sharon. Eitan said that even after Israel halted its air raid bombing, Israeli troops were being afforded “maximum protection.” But Eitan declined to contradict the Defense Minister directly.

In reply to repeated questioning designed to elicit a direct contradiction, Eitan told his interviewer; “You are a parrot — even a sick parrot — if you continue to ask questions about the reason for the bombing raids. If you continue to be a sick parrot I will say goodbye and leave this room.” Eitan agreed with Sharon in believing that the military pressure of recent days and weeks had helped Habib’s negotiations.

SAYS THERE IS NO ‘VACUUM BOMB

The Chief of Staff denied press reports that Israel had used a “vacuum bomb.” He said: “There is no such thing as a vacuum bomb. A local paper which wrote last week that Israel had evolved a plan to secure its own soldiers from the effect of a vacuum bomb just shows ignorance. There is, to the best of my knowledge, no such thing as a vacuum bomb.”

Eitan suggested that the “vacuum bomb story” might have been invented to explain away the surprising accuracy of Israeli bombings.

The Chief of Staff said the dispersal of the PLO among several countries after the Beirut withdrawal-would reduce its capacity to harm Israel, though isolated terrorist actions abroad, carried out by small groups of four or five terrorists, might continue.

Eitan said he did not oppose discussions about the war inside the army or at civilian demonstrations in towns. “This is all part of democracy,” he said.