Premier Menachem Begin told U.S. Ambassador Samuel Lewis today that if civilians were hurt in yesterday’s Israeli air strike over southwestern Lebanon, then Israel expresses its deepest sorrow. However, he added, “We do not apologize for the operation. We shall no longer allow that a Jewish mother will lose her life in Nahariya because of Katyusha rocket attack. We shall defend our people.”
Begin summoned the American envoy to a meeting also attended by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman. He warned that “If there are further attacks from Lebanon there will be more counter-attacks.” The U.S. Ambassador and the Israeli leaders reportedly agreed that additional efforts should be made to reinstate the cease-fire in southern Lebanon.
Israelis in general were encouraged by the moderate American reaction to yesterday’s air strike which they attributed to Israel’s cooperative policy in the south Lebanon conflict during the last three months. Meanwhile, Israel’s northern regions remained in a state of alert today against possible terrorist retaliation. Residents of townships near the Lebanese border spent the night in bomb shelters. Many shops and coffee houses did not open for business today and relatively few people were in the streets.
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