Tension ran high in Israel tonight following a report on radio and television that the commission of inquiry into the west Beirut refugee camps massacre will submit its findings to Premier Menachem Begin this evening and publish them tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time. The findings are expected to be published in full, except for portions deleted for security reasons.
The three-man commission was appointed last October to investigate whether Israel was in any way culpable in the mass killings of Palestinian men, women and children in the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps by armed elements of the Christian Phalangists. West Beirut was under Israeli occupation at the time.
The commission heard scores of witnesses and poured over thousands of pages of testimony. Last November, the Israeli leadership was shaken when the commission warned nine top political and military figures, Begin among them, that they may be harmed if the panel reached certain conclusions on the basis of their testimony. According to the reports broadcast tonight. Begin will Immediately inform those concerned if they are adversely affected by the commission’s findings. He has instructed all ministers to make no comment. The opposition Labor Party has also banned comment by individual members.
Israel Radio said a special Cabinet meeting is likely to be called tomorrow to consider the findings and that ministers planning to go abroad have been asked to remain in Israel for the next few days. Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, one of the government leaders warned by the commission, is presently touring Europe. He may be called home immediately, the radio report said.
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