Knesset Debate Subdued

The Knesset’s full scale debate today on the war in Lebanon was uncharacteristically subdued. Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres stressed that the opposition would “try to maintain unity” as long as Israeli soldiers are at the front and in danger.

Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, who opened the debate with a lengthy statement on behalf of the government, seemed most interested in refuting charges by Laborites and other critics that he made operational decisions without the knowledge or full comprehension of the Cabinet. He defended the extension of the war beyond the 40 kilometer terrorist-free zone which Israel claimed was its sole objective when it invaded Lebanon on June 6 and which was achieved after the first 24 hours of fighting.

Sharon gave a detailed chronological account of the fighting to prove that Israel did its utmost to avoid a confrontation with Syrian forces in Lebanon and risked the safety of its own soldiers to hold civilian casualties to a minimum.

Peres, speaking for the Labor Alignment, said it had serious criticism of the “scope of the war” but would exercise restraint out of a sense of “national responsibility” until the fighting was over. He made it clear that Labor vigorously opposed the entry of Israeli troops into west Beirut to destroy the remnants of the Palestine Liberation Organization forces there. He angrily rejected the government’s charge that by publicly stating that position Labor weakened Israel’s position in the negotiations to get the PLO to lay down its arms and leave Beirut and Lebanon.

SHARON URGES PLO TO EVACUATE

Sharon said the Israeli army could seize west Beirut at any time, but Israel “did not rejoice” in that prospect. He called on the PLO “to make a heart-searching reappraisal at this moment of truth and accept an honorable evacuation.”

Sharon quoted extensively from formal Cabinet decisions at crucial junctures of the war to demonstrate that whatever military actions were taken had the full knowledge and approval of the Cabinet. He said the Cabinet approved his proposal, on the fourth day of fighting, to knock out Syrian anti-aircraft missile batteries in eastern Lebanon because they threatened Israel’s advance. He blamed Syrian violations of cease-fire agreements for the extension of the war to the outskirts of Beirut.

The Defense Minister insisted that the advance beyond the 40 kilometer line in south Lebanon did not contradict Israel’s stated war aim which was to destroy PLO “bases and headquarters” in Lebanon. He said Israel’s statement of its objectives when it invaded Lebanon on June 6 was much closer to the truth than the statements which preceded the 1956 Sinai campaign and the 1967 Six-Day War, both of which were conducted by Labor-led governments.

DISPUTE OVER OBJECTIVES

The only uproar of the debate developed when Peres claimed that if the government had adhered to its original objectives, Israeli casualties would be much lower than they are today. He noted that on the second day of fighting when the terrorists had been driven more than 40 kilometers from the border, Israeli casualties stood at only 25 dead and 96 wounded. Likud MKs shouted that Labor was “trading on the fallen” for political reasons.

At another point in the debate, the Knesset was angered when Hadash Communist MK Tawfiq Toubi refused to stand to observe a minute’s silence for Israel’s war dead.