Israel continued to maintain official silence today on U.S. changes that it used cluster bombs (CBUs) during its incursion into south Lebanon last month. But it has apologized to the United States for employing the American-made anti-personnel weapon. Defense Minister Ezer Weizman met with U.S. Ambassador Samuel Lewis Friday and they reportedly discussed that issue as well as Israel’s plan for withdrawal of its forces from south Lebanon.
The State Department announced yesterday that Israel had violated U.S. restrictions on the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and said it was seeking to prevent any further breach of the agreements which govern Israel’s employment of weapons it receives from the U.S. A State Department spokesman said “Israel has told us they were used exclusively against military targets and specifically artillery targets.”
According to other State Department sources, the limited independent information available does not contradict Israel’s contention. Cluster bombs were one of the most controversial weapons used by American forces in Viet Nam. They consist of a canister, dropped from aircraft, that opens to scatter bombs or grenades containing various types of sharp shrapnel across a wide area.
Their use by Israel in Lebanon was reported in American news accounts of the fighting last month. Rep. Paul N. McCloskey (R. Calif.), a critic of the American role in Viet Nam, charged, on the basis of those accounts, that Israel used the cluster bombs against civilians. His charge brought the State Department’s confirmation yesterday “that Israel used CBUs supplied by the United States in Lebanon.”
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