Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan yesterday rejected the argument that Israel’s help for the Christians in Lebanon could “torpedo” the upcoming peace negotiations with Egypt. He said he could not believe that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat supported what Syria was doing against the Christians in Lebanon nor could he see why Sadat would “be offended” if Israel tries to save the lives of the Christians there.
Appearing on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation,” Dayan said he could not rule out future Israeli assistance to the Christians although he did not specify what form this help” the Christians and this was a feeling shared by both the Israeli government and its people.
The Foreign Minister stressed that the Israeli naval shelling near Beirut last Friday was aimed at a “PLO naval base” because “we had information that they were about to have an attack against Israel.” He said it may have also had an “indirect” warning to Syria and others that Israel would not hesitate to act “by sea or other means (in) Beirut or in other parts of Lebanon” if it felt its security was threatened or if the Christians were endangered.
But as for last Friday’s attack, Dayan said “The immediate objective was not the Syrian force and it was not to interfere with the war going on there between the Syrians and the Christians” but “was against the PLO.” He said he hoped the cease-fire in Beirut would hold. But he pointed out that it had nothing to do with the Camp David accords since the dispute had been going on before the summit meeting.
DENIES EGYPT WANTS CONDITIONS
On other matters, Dayan said Egypt did not make it a condition for signing a peace treaty with Israel that the West Bank and Gaza Strip issue be settled. He said an agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip can only be concluded with Jordan with the participation of Palestinians.
Dayan denied a report that he said the Arabs would eventually have sovereignty over East Jerusalem. But he said the Jerusalem issue would be discussed as part of the negotiations for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which will come at the end of the five-year transitional period during which the residents of Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip will have self-rule.
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