Sharon Says Reagan Was Misled by Members of His Own Administration

Former Defense Minister Ariel Sharon charged last night that President Reagan was “misled” about Lebanon by prominent members of his own Administration and some of his top diplomatic aides.

Reagan originally understood fully the Syrian and Soviet threat to Lebanon’s freedom, Sharon declared during a half hour television interview. “But he was misled by special envoy Philip Habib, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, Nicholas Veliotes and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis.” Veliotes, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, is presently the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt.

According to Sharon, the present situation in Lebanon could have been prevented “if the Americans had listened to us earlier and if the opposition and part of the news media had not caused us to squander the achievements of the war” in Lebanon.

He said the U.S. should act now to ensure free passage from Beirut along the coastal road to Sidon and the Israel-held area to prevent the collapse of the Christians in Lebanon. The U.S. also should insist on implementation of the May 17, 1983 withdrawal and security agreement between Israel and Lebanon, Sharon said.

DEFENDS WAR IN LEBANON

He ardently defended the war in Lebanon and his role in it. He repeated his proposal for a “full-scale investigation” of the war by the government on condition that the opposition and the media also be investigated for their “anti-government and anti-war stand at the start of and throughout the fighting.”

Sharon said he had never evaded responsibility for the war. “I never ran away from my responsibility as a Cabinet member and as Minister of Defense,” he said. He suggested that an investigation of the war should include examination of Cabinet minutes, a reference to charges by some of his colleagues that he had often acted on his own without consulting them. Commentators noted that Sharon was safe in making such demands because he knew the government would never agree.

The interview dramatized Sharon’s ongoing battle with the media. The hostility between the panel of three interviewers and their guest was almost palpable. Observers said later that “there was no knock-out in last night’s fight but Sharon won on points.” He “bulldozed” his way past embarrassing questions, made no attempt to convince his critics “but gave full satisfaction to his fervent supporters,” observers said.

Sharon addressed students at Bar llan University today. He said he still considers himself a candidate for the Premiership and would offer to head the Herut party list in the next Knesset elections and to serve as Prime Minister. He dismissed charges that his views and methods endangered democracy in Israel as “a propaganda of fear put out by the opposition to give legitimacy to opposition plans,”

As to the Kahan commission’s finding that he bore indirect responsibility for the Shatila and Sabra refugee camps massacre in September, 1982, Sharon’s reply was “malicious blood libel.” The term “blood libel” was former Premier Menachem Begin’s initial response to demands that Israel’s role in the massacres be investigated.