Tense, Bitter Cabinet Session

The Cabinet met in special session today, in what Israel Radio described as the most tense and most bitter government session ever held. The radio said that Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was in almost complete isolation, supported in heated debate only by the newest Cabinet Minister, Prof. Yuval Neeman of the Tehiya Party.

According to the radio report of the Cabinet session, Deputy Premier David Levy said that certain actions ordered by Sharon yesterday were not in accordance with government decisions. The reports also said that almost all ministers spoke out against recent actions, including the heavy bombing of PLO positions in west Beirut and advances by Israeli forces into Beirut.

The Cabinet was reported to have accepted a proposal by Premier Menachem Begin that any further bombing raids or advances in Beirut required the prior consent of the Premier who would consult with his colleagues if necessary.

SHARON ATTACKS CABINET COLLEAGUES

According to the radio report, word of the American note to Begin warning him against further bombing raids on Beirut was brought to the Premier during the Cabinet session.

Israel radio said that following the Cabinet session, Sharon met with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee which heard what the radio described as a “lengthy monologue” by the Defense Minister couched in a “cynical and bitter vain” criticizing his Cabinet colleagues for their criticism of him at the Cabinet session.

According to the radio, at one point in the Cabinet meeting, when Sharon said that senior army officers had told him of the effectiveness of the bombing raids, Begin pointed out to him sternly that as Defense Minister he represented the Cabinet to army headquarters and not vice versa. He was also in control of the army Chief of Staff and should give him orders.

A new snag appeared to develop today in the mission of U.S. special envoy Philip Habib to end the conflict in Lebanon. The Palestine Liberation Organization refuses to give Habib a list with the names of all the terrorists now in Beirut who are to be evacuated. One of the preconditions Israel placed on accepting Habib’s plan was that it be given a list of the exact number of terrorists, their ages, citizenship, some personal background details and countries of destination.

Israel estimates that there are now 12,000 terrorists to be evacuated, while the United States and Lebanon estimate the number to be around 6,000. The 12,000 figure is believed to include members of Syria’s army. Israel wants by all means to avoid a situation in which after the withdrawal is completed, the terrorists will have left behind a core which could resume its activities in Beirut.

Another fear expressed in Jerusalem is that the Arab states which have indicated a willingness to accept numbers of the PLO forces–Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Tunisia–might still change their minds.

The issue of the list arose yesterday when Habib came to Jerusalem without it. The envoy was expected to concentrate his efforts today on obtaining the PLO’s agreement to give him the list. According to Israeli sources, once this problem is solved, the solution to the other outstanding problems–the timetable for the evacuation of the terrorist forces and the deployment of an international force to supervise their departure–will fall into place.

ISRAEL’S PREFERENCE OUTLINED

According to Habib’s plan, a contingent of 350 French soldiers would enter west Beirut at an early stage of the evacuation process. Israel had insisted that an international force could enter only after all the terrorists left, to make certain that a contingent of foreign soldiers could not be used by the terrorists as a screen to forestall departure. Last Sunday, however, Premier Menachem Begin agreed to having an international force enter west Beirut after most, but not all, the terrorists have left.

Israel would prefer Americans in the first contingent of the international force rather than the French, who are regarded here as sympathetic to the Palestinians. In recent days, Israel expressed its anger over France’s vote in the United Nations Security Council for a resolution to censure Israel for its continued war in Lebanon and to impose an arms embargo on Israel.

Begin, himself, also denounced President Francois Mitterrand on Tuesday for having contributed to an atmosphere of anti-Semitism in France by his comparison of Israel’s military action in Lebanon with the Nazi massacre of 642 French civilians in the town of Oradour-sur-Glane during World War II, a charge rejected yesterday by French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson. Begin’s charge was made a day after a terrorist hit squad opened fire in the Jewish quarter in Paris and killed six people and wounded 22.

In spite of the new snag over the list, Begin told the Knesset today that there is considerable progress in the negotiations over the evacuation of the terrorists from Lebanon’s besieged capital. He again rejected a demand by the UN Security Council that UN observers be stationed in and around west Beirut to monitor the cease-fire and the terrorists’ withdrawal. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon told Israel Television today that he believed the “terrorists were about to disappear from Beirut” and that Israel was now close to the end of the war. He emphasized that the basic problem now was to ensure that the entry of the international force would not serve as a “shield for the terrorists.”

Sharon noted that the force, comprising U.S., Italian and French troops, would have no joint command and would act on instructions from their governments. The Defense Minister said the concentration of the Israel Defense Force around Beirut has two aims to prevent the international force from acting without Israel’s consent, and to impress on the PLO that they have no way out but to leave.

Sharon also insisted that not only the terrorists, but also the Syrians quit west Beirut. He said Israel insists that the Syrians should not be the last to leave the city, lest they announce at the end that they are not willing to withdraw. He said Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon is contingent on a total withdrawal of all foreign forces from that country.

Indicating that Israel, for its part, is ready to remain in Lebanon for a longtime, Sharon recalled that immediately after the Six-Day War, Israel said it would withdraw from Sinai for a peace treaty with Egypt. Israel remained in Sinai for 15 years, until Egypt signed the treaty, Sharon said.

MASSIVE RAIDS ON PLO TARGETS

Meanwhile, Israel’s Air Force conducted massive raids today on PLO targets in west Beirut, backed up by naval bombardments. Today’s raids followed the wounding by terrorist fire of 22 Israeli soldiers yesterday. The artillery, tank and mortar exchanges today were reported as fierce, and the air raids, which began shortly after dawn, were still going on in the early afternoon.

During the night, Israeli ground forces consolidated their positions they hold between east and west Beirut, moving forward several hundred meters and occupying seven high-rise buildings formerly used as PLO lookout and outpost points and now used for the same purpose by the Israeli forces.

The army spokesman dented that Israeli planes had attacked new missile batteries brought forward by the Syrians north of the Beirut-to-Damascus highway.

The Air Force raids on west Beirut were halted after almost 10 hours of continuous raids in waves. By nightfall Israeli soldiers were observing a cease-fire, according to the army spokesman, though terrorists continued to fire at Israeli positions. The spokesman said that five Israeli soldiers were wounded by terrorist fire at midday today.