Premier Menachem Begin today disclosed that he and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev exchanged letters recently in which the Soviet Union reminded Israel that its troops were in the vicinity of the Soviet Embassy in Beirut.
Begin, appearing on the CBS-TV program “Face the Nation,” said the letter was received “a few days ago” and spoke of the locate of the Embassy in relation to the position of Israeli troops. He said it spoke of the Embassy and “nothing else.”
The Israeli Premier said he replied to the letter just prior to his departure to the United States and reminded the Soviets that the Israeli government respected the immunity of the Soviet Embassy. At the same time, Begin said he also reminded the Soviet Union of Israel’s right to self-defense.
Begin’s appearance on the CBS program came just a day before he is scheduled to meet with President Reagan at the White House. In preparation for the meeting with Reagan, Begin met last Friday with Secretary of State Alexander Haig in New York. The issue of Lebanon and the long stalled autonomy talks for Palestinian autonomy are expected to be discussed tomorrow.
Begin said that the autonomy proposal is the most far reaching of its kind ever proposed. He again said that Jerusalem must be one of the sites for the. autonomy negotiations, a point that has stalled the autonomy talks because of Israel’s insistance on Jerusalem as a site and Egypt’s refusal to hold the talks there.
Begin was asked whether he felt Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been embarrassed by the Israeli invasion into Lebanon and by the continued insistance to hold the autonomy talks in Jerusalem. He responded rhetorically, “Did I embarrass President Mubarak because we defended our people?”
Regarding the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Begin would not specify on how long the Israeli troops will remain there. He said this could not be measured in days but would depend on “a criteria of security.”
SEEKS MULTINATIONAL FORCE
According to Begin, Israel seeks to have a multinational peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to keep the Palestinian terrorists from shelling Israel’s northern settlements. He said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is not sufficient.
The Israeli Premier would not explain why the Israeli troops went beyond the originally stated intentions of the Israeli operation to push the Palestinian terrorists 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Israeli-Lebanese border. Begin seemed to imply that this occurred because the Israeli forces were pursuing the Palestine Liberation Organization.
DOESN’T WANT ARAFAT
Regarding the fate of PLO Chief Yasir Arafat, Begin said Israel had no plans to capture him, “because we don’t want to deal with him at all. He would be a trouble for us. Let him go where he wants to.”
Begin said Israeli troops have captured a massive quantity of Soviet weapons and ammunition from Palestinian terrorist bases in Lebanon. He said it would take 10 big trucks working day and night for six weeks to transport all of the captured arms to Israel. He said Lebanon had become a “Soviet base” for the Middle East.
Asked what he sees in the future for Israel, Begin spoke warmly of his nine grandchildren. “I have deep faith, in my heart that my grandchildren will have peace,” he said.
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