The Cabinet met in special session for two hours today to review the latest proposals presented by U.S. special envoy Philip Habib to resolve the missile crisis between Israel and Syria. Cabinet Secretary Arye Naor told reporters afterwards that decisions were taken “which increase the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.” He gave no details.
Premier Menachem Begin was scheduled to meet with Habib later today to inform him of the Cabinet’s decision and is expected to make a statement to the press after the meeting. Begin and Habib met late yesterday shortly after the American diplomat returned to Israel from talks in Damascus. He also visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last weekend in an apparent effort to enlist the Saudis to exert their influence on President Hafez Assad of Syria for a paceful solution.
DENY ‘AMERICAN PLAN’ ON ISRAELI FLIGHTS
The Prime Ministers Office repeated today that there was no “American plan” or any other that calls for a cessation or limitation of Israel Air Force flights over Lebanon. A spokesman insisted that no such idea was even raised in Begin’s talks with Habib.
But Israel Radio last night broadcast what it said were “elements” of the proposals Habib has carried in his round of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Arab capitals. They included cessation by Israel of operational flights over Lebanon as distinguished from high altitude intelligence-gathering flights which would be allowed to continue, according to Israel Radio.
It was intimated that the restriction applied only to eastern and northern Lebanon and that Israel would remain free to continue its operational missions against Palestinian terrorists in south Lebanon.
Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Zipori said yesterday that he had no information of any offensive deployment of Syrian forces in Lebanon. He told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that the Syrians may want war but at this stage their military build-up was defensive in nature. He said the Syrians have reinforced their anti-aircraft batteries and armored units and were fortifying their positions in the Sannine mountain range. But according to Zipori, the Syrians are no longer using helicopters in offensive operations against Christian forces in the Lebanese mountains.
UND OF MANDATE EXTENDED
Meanwhile, a United Nations source in New York said today that Israel and Syria have agreed to a six-month extension of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force on the Golan Heights. The 1250-man force made up of contingents from Austria, Finland, Canada and Poland has been supervising the disengagement agreements entered into by Syria and Israel in May, 1974.
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