Labor Calls off Knesset Debate

An extraordinary session of the Knesset scheduled for today was cancelled last night when the Labor Alignment withdrew its call for urgent debate. The opposition party acted after the government announced yesterday that it will establish a judicial commission to investigate the west Beirut massacre of September 16-17 and Israel’s role, if any, in it.

Labor’s move to call off the Knesset debate was also apparently in response to the Likud Party’s cancellation of a pro-government rally it had planned to stage in Tel Aviv next Saturday night to counter last Saturday night’s massive anti-government demonstration there. The Cabinet’s unanimous decision to reverse its previous opposition to a full scale probe of events in west Beirut drew commendation from President Yitzhak Navon.

Navon, who was the first high ranking Israeli to call for an investigatory commission, said he was “very pleased” by the decision even though it should have been made sooner. He expressed hope that this move would reduce tensions in Israel and cause the level of verbal violence to subside.

At the same time, Navon urged President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon to launch an investigation of his own into the massacre of Palestinians by units of his Christian Phalangist party. He said there were alarming signs that the Lebanese were trying to cover up the truth. Navon spoke during a visit to the Druze village of Julis on the occasion of the Moslem feast of Id-A1.

SHARON SUPPORTS INQUIRY

Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the prime target of Israeli protests over the events in west Beirut, expressed full support for the commission of inquiry into both the political and military acts by Israel before and during the episode. Addressing a memorial service for Yom Kippur War dead yesterday, Sharon said “There is nothing more important than the moral value and power of the people of Israel in the land of Israel. An investigation should be carried out in depth and nobody should escape such an investigation, either on the political or military level.”

Sharon added: “I personally … believe in and recognize the conception of ministerial responsibility. To investigate — yes. But to put this at the very center of our lives — no.” Sharon’s reference to ministerial responsibility was seen as an allusion to public demands, after the Yom Kippur War that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan resign.

FORMER COLONEL AIRS STORY

Meanwhile, Col. (res.) Eli Geva, who resigned his command of an armored brigade in Lebanon last July when an Israeli occupation of west Beirut appeared imminent, explained his motives in a radio interview over the weekend.

In his first public comments since leaving the army, Geva said the senior military staff had been “very close to a decision” to enter west Beirut at the time although they were aware that it could have been a costly fight in terms of Israeli casualties.

He said he tendered his resignation because he didn’t believe his superiors had a “reason for spilling our blood” and hoped his action would forestall a decision to invade the Lebanese capital. But had such an order been given “I wouldn’t have dared disobey it,” Geva said.

The 32-year-old ex-officer, now a textile executive, said he was not an anti-war activist. But when the Israeli army began its siege of Beirut, “I stopped and thought to myself, what are we doing here? Where have we come Is it good for the Jews? Do we need it? What is the price?”

Geva, regarded as one of the most outstanding of Israel’s younger military commanders, said many of his colleagues shared his doubts but none had spoken out at staff meetings. He said he regretted that “only a minority” of his fellow officers have kept contact with him since he left the army.