Israelis Urged by U.S. to Stay in Lebanon Until Syrians Withdraw

The Israeli government was put in an ambiguous position over the weekend as the United States urged it to hold to its present lines in Lebanon until the Syrians agree to withdraw, while pressure intensified at home to pull back from the dangerous Shouf maintains regardless of what the Syrians do.

The Cabinet discussed the matter this morning against the background of last night’s giant Peace Now rally in Tel Aviv’s municipal square where throngs demanded that Israel “Get out of the mud in Lebanon.” The Americans, on the other hand, warned Israel that a unilaterial withdrawal would only jeopardize efforts to get the Syrian army and the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists to agree to leave Lebanon.

The U.S. position, apparently backed by its West European allies and by the Lebanese government, was outlined in reports sent from Washington by Deputy Foreign Minister Yehuda Ben-Meir who has been meeting with Administration officials. The U.S. and the Lebanese have reportedly painted a dark picture of future developments if the Israeli army pulls back now now to shorter lines in Lebanon. Such a move, they contend, would shatter the delicate structure of President Amin Gemayel’s government in Beirut and would lead to the occupation of areas evacuated by Israel by Syrian and PLO forces.

Defense Minister Moshe Arens, who met with ranking French government officials while he was in Paris to attend the air show last week, told the Cabinet that the French believe the Syrians will leave Lebanon in the long run. This was presented as an argument in favor of the view that Israel should be patient and give diplomacy another chance to achieve the desired pull-out of all foreign forces from Lebanon.

Britain now seems to share the American view. The government received a message from Foreign Secretary Francis Pym over the weekend, asking Israel to show restraint and leave Lebanon only after a full settlement is reached.

The problem is that in its present deployment, the Israeli army is vulnerable to ambush and hit-and-run attacks by PLO terrorists acting as surrogates for Syria. Casualities are mounting slowly but steadily. Eight Israeli soldiers were killed and 71 were wounded last month alone.

This has given impetus to the political opposition. A Labor Party resolution demanding that Israel pull out of the Shouf maountains immediately and out of all of Lebanon within the next few months was rejected out of hand by Premier Menachem Begin last Friday. Partial or total withdrawal is also the rallying cry of Peace Now and similar anti-war movements and grass roots groups composed of parents of soldiers serving in Lebanon. Even some members of Begin’s Likud-led coalition favor the concentration of Israeli forces in the 28-mile security zone north of the border which was, in fact, the originally stated objective of the “Peace for Galilee” operation launched exactly one year ago today.

150,000 AT PEACE NOW RALLY

The Peace Now rally in Tel Aviv attracted some 150,000 persons according to its organizers. The rally culminated a week-long war protest march that began at Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanese border. It was joined by the Yesh Gevul (There’s a Limit) movement of reserve soldiers who refuse to serve in Lebanon and the Committee to End the War in Lebanon which is affiliated with Israel’s Hadash Communist Party. Peace Now disassociated itself from the latter because it wants nothing to do with political movements of any stripe. Peace Now also reprimanded the reservists on grounds that no matter how distasteful the war in Lebanon, army discipline must be maintained.

But some banners waved at the rally had a clearly political message. They read, “Superfluous war, superfluous government, ” and “Return Israel to its Natural Size,” a slogan with implications for the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as Lebanon. All speakers at the rally denounced the “unnecessary war initiated by the government” in Lebanon and called an the Begin coalition to resign.

The rally, heavily guarded by regular and border police, passed off without incident. Observers noted that unlike such previous demonstrations there were no hecklers in the crowd last night and no anti-Peace Now or pro-government banners on display.

Despite the rally which seemed to reflect widespread sentiment in Israel, the government is expected to heed Washington’s advice and take no unilateral steps in Lebanon, at least for the time being Nevertheless, some coalition members are restive. Likud MK Meir Shitreet urged the government to reject American “dictation.” He said Israel should set a deadline for Syrian and PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. If it is not met, Israel should itself withdraw “to a convenient line, ” he said.

Geula Cohen, of the ultra-nationalist Tehiya party, also proposed independent steps to deploy the Israeli army along “new lines” with the intention to remain in Lebanon indefinitely. Eitan Gilboa, a Hebrew University expert on American affairs, pointed out that Washington’s message was a “request, ” not “dictation,” He said the American position should be taken as a signal to the Arab world that unless the Syrians and PLO withdraw from Lebanon, that country would revert to total anarchy.

LABOR PARTY POSITION DENOUNCED

Meanwhile, a senior source at the Prime Ministers Office denounced the Labor Party resolution for total withdrawal as “a war of attrition against the government. ” Begin reportedly believes that withdrawal at this stage would harm Israel’s security and political position and would lead inevitably to a new war in Lebanon. His personal view is that the U.S. should be given time to exhaust all diplomatic efforts to convince the Syrians to withdraw and that when Israel eventually withdraws its own forces, the evacuated territory should be policed by the multi-national force presently deployed in Beirut and by the Lebanese army.

But Labor Party Secretary General Haim Barlev said today that he saw no reason for Labor to reverse its position for unilateral withdrawal, “It may be justified to delay the decision for a few days, but if we set no deadline we may find ourselves in the same situation a year from now, ” he said.

Labor, and some coalition members as well, believe that Israel must act in its own best interests, not for the interests of the U.S. As former Chief of Staff Mordechai Gur, a Labor MK summoned it up, “it is our sons who are fighting in Lebanon.”