Israel warned Syria today that it “will not acquiesce in the Syrian attempt to take over Lebanon and annihilate the Christians there.” The warning, in the form of a Cabinet communique, was issued shortly before Israel disclosed that its aircraft had shot down two Syrian helicopters over central Lebanon, one this afternoon and the other yesterday.
Premier Menachem Begin announced the downing of the second helicopter in the course of a radio interview in which he said Israelis, as Jews, had a moral commitment to prevent the slaughter of a people or religion by another nation and that it was also in Israel’s “clear national interest” to prevent the Syrians from gaining control of the central Lebanese mountain range from which they could shell Junia, the only Lebanese port open to Christian forces.
BEGIN POINTS OUT THE DANGER
According to Begin, if the Syrians control the mountain range, known as the Sannine, they could move southwards and attack Israel together with Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists. He said the Syrians have not listened to American appeals to halt the fighting in Lebanon and that President Hafez Assad refused to receive the U.S. Ambassador to Damascus.
Yesterday the State Department expressed “concern” over the Syrian capture of two strong-points in the Lebanese mountain range previously held by Christian forces and described it as “a major change in the status quo.” At the same time, however, it refused to condemn the Syrian action (See separate story P.2).
Begin said Israel decided to counter the Syrian thrust when the Syrians began to employ helicopters against the Christians. “We do not want war with Syria, ” he said, or a confrontation with the Syrians” but ” there are risks… We cannot just stand aside while the Christians are being slaughtered and the dangers to Israel itself are growing.”
Chief of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan confirmed that Syria’s use of helicopter gunships and troop carriers could seriously affect the capacity of the Christians
to defend themselves and therefore the Syrian escalation represented a direct threat to Israel’s security. Today’s warning to Syria was issued following telephone consultations among various ministers on the deteriorating situation in Lebanon.
Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Zipori later amplified the communique. He said on a radio interview that it signified that Israel would continue to press for international diplomatic support to end the fighting in Lebanon. “I am glad to note that our appeals have had some positive response for the first time from many countries, mainly from the U.S., ” he said.
Katyusha rockets were fired into Upper Galilee last night from Palestinian terrorist positions in Lebanon. No casualties or damage were reported but Israelis in border villages were forced to spend the night in bomb shelters. The rocket attack apparently was retaliation for Israel’s heavy air strikes yesterday against four Palestine Liberation Organization bases well inside Lebanon. They were the second air raids in two days.
A military spokesman acknowledged, meanwhile, that Israeli fighter planes shot down a Syrian helicopter yesterday near the Lebanese Christian village of Zahle that has been under siege by Syrian forces. No details were given. Zipori said in his radio interview: “The Syrians have recently introduced a new dimension in their fight against the Christians–a dimension against which they (the Christians) have no defense. That is, various kinds of helicopters which are wreaking havoc among the Christians.”
With respect to the downing of the helicopter, Zipori said “the significance is simple. We have announced many times we have an obligation towards the Lebanese Christians and we will not abandon them to be slaughtered.” Asked if such Israeli intervention did not create the danger of a Syrian-Israeli confrontation, Zipori replied, “There is always the danger but Israel has warned and warned again that there will be no Syrian air activity in the skies over Lebanon.”
Zipori said one of Israel’s objectives in Lebanon was to ensure that an entity would develop there which might be prepared to discuss peace with Israel. He said the Syrian attacks on Christian concentrations in the Sannine mountains near Zahle which overlook the Beka valley on the east and the Christian-held coastal region on the west were intended to destroy such an entity.
PRESSURE ON ISRAEL’S GOVERNMENT
The escalation of fighting in Lebanon has brought the government under pressure from senior army officers and from settlers in the northern region to step up Israel’s involvement. The officer want to impress on Damascus the existence of a “red line” in Lebanon beyond which the Syrians will not be permitted to go. The settlers demand stronger action against terrorists in south Lebanon.
But on the political level, Begin, Zipori and others appear to favor quiet diplomatic efforts such as referred to by Zipori in the radio interview. Accordingly, the government is seeking to persuode the U.S. and the Western European countries to bring their influence to bear on Syria to relent in its attacks on the Lebanese Christians. From Israel’s viewpoint, defeat of the Christian forces in central Lebanon would have dangerous consequences for the Christian enclave along Israel’s border and thereby for Israel’s own security.
Observers here noted that Israel’s pre-emptive air strikes in Lebanon this week indicated an attempt to relieve pressure on Christian forces by broadening the targets. Israeli jets attacked not only rocket-launching sites but concentrations of Palestinian tanks and artillery. The downing of Syrian helicopters was acknowledged for the first time today, although Israel denied Damascus reports that Syrian jets had engaged Israeli aircraft in a dogfight over Lebanon Sunday.
The Syrians are said to be using two types of helicopter in Lebanon–the French-made Gazelle employed as attack gunships, and the heavier Soviet-made transport types. It was not disclosed which type was shot down by the Israelis.
The PLO, meanwhile, introduced rapid-fire 40-barrel Katyusha rocket launchers mounted on trucks. Those batteries are highly mobile and can discharge 40 rockets within seconds at a range of up to about 12 miles.
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