Government, Opposition Leaders Meet Amidst Speculation That a National Unity Government May Be in Th

A two-hour meeting between the top government and opposition leaders today raised new speculation that a national unity government may be in the making, possibly as a prelude to Israeli military action against Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon.

Attending the meeting, held under a veil of secrecy in the Prime Ministers Office, were Premier Menachem Begin, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon for the government, and Shimon Peres, chairman of the Labor Alignment, former Premier Yitzhak Rabin, and Haim Barlev, Secretary General of the Labor Party.

Peres told reporters afterwards that the subject of discussion was “political and security affairs.” He said a national unity government was not discussed. The meeting was held only a day after Begin renewed his call for a national unity regime amid speculation here and abroad over how Israel would react to the murder of an Israeli diplomat, Yaacov Bar-Simantov, in Paris last Saturday.

U.S. CONCERNED OVER RISING TENSION

Israel insists that the Palestine Liberation Organization was responsible for the killing, raising the possibility of a strike into Lebanon on grounds that the PLO violated the cease-fire in effect since last July. The U.S. reportedly is pressing Israel not to over-react to the Paris murder. Ambassador Samuel Lewis met today with Hannan Bar-On, Director General of the Foreign Ministry. He is said to have expressed Washington’s concern over the rising tension in the area.

Palestinian terrorists are convinced that an Israeli attack is imminent. Many Israelis apparently expect the same thing and believe Begin is anxious to form a national unity regime before undertaking such action in face of probable adverse reactions from the U.S. and world opinion.

UNITY GOVERNMENT NOT RULED OUT

Peres told the Labor Alignment Knesset faction today that there is no room for such a government at this time. But he refused to endorse a resolution rejecting a national unity coalition under any circumstances, urged by Mapam Secretary General Victor Shemtov.

Peres said that in the future circumstances might necessitate a unity government and it may well be headed by the Labor Alignment. He thereby did not rule out the possibility in principle. Meir Payil, a leader of the small leftist Sheli faction, urged Alignment leaders not to fall into the “trap of a national unity government” that would give Begin legitimacy for “aggressive terror acts in Lebanon,” jeopardize the withdrawal from Sinai or to continue “going wild on the West Bank and the Golan.”

Meanwhile, the independent daily Haaretz warned in an editorial today that the murder in Paris did not justify military intervention in Lebanon. Even a limited operation might deteriorate into events beyond Israel’s control, the paper said.