U.S. Accepts Israeli Decision to Redeploy Its Forces in Lebanon As ‘inevitable’ and Agrees with Isra

The Reagan Administration ended 15 hours of talks over three days with Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Defense Minister Moshe Arens today having accepted the Israeli decision to redeploy its troops in Lebanon as “inevitable” and agreeing to Israel’s contention that this would be the first phase of its withdrawal from Lebanon.

“One of the things that came forward very strongly was the attitude of Israel that this redeployment is the first phase toward total withdrawal in the context of the May 17 Israeli-Lebanese agreement,” Secretary of State George Shultz said after a 30-minute meeting between the two Israeli ministers and President Reagan.

“I think that any notion that this redeployment is part of an attempt to stay in Lebanon is totally wrong and certainly to the contrary,” Shultz said as the two Israelis stood at his side under the hot broiling sun in the driveway outside the White House west wing. “It is a step in the direction of total withdrawal and we at least hope it will make some impact in that regard by the Syrians and the others in the area.”

While neither Arens nor Shamir mentioned redeployment in their brief remarks today, Shamir, after allday talks at the State Department yesterday,stressed that “The redeployment is a decision of the Israeli government.”

He said: “We’ve explained to our friends, the Secretary and his assistants all of our concepts of the redeployment as a first stage of the implementation of the agreement concluded between us and Lebanon. We also stressed the necessity of close cooperation in the implementation of the redeployment between us and the Lebanese government and the United States government.”

NO PUBLIC COMMENT ON TIMETABLE

There was no public comment today on whether there has been a timetable set for the start of the redeployment which would put the Israeli forces back to the Awali River. But a senior Administration official briefing reporters today on the talks with the Israelis noted that the Israelis would like to start the troop pullback “as soon as possible. “

However, the official made it clear that the U.S. would first want to make sure that before Israel leaves, the Lebanese army can take over any area being vacated. He said the first step for this would be to get an agreement to end the fighting between the Christians and Druze in the Shouf mountains. He also noted that the multinational force would not consider going into that area until the fighting has ended.

The way to stop this fighting, which the official stressed is a Lebanese problem, is expected to be the first item on the agenda when Robert McFarlane, Reagan’s new special envoy to the Mideast, and his assistant, Richard Fairbanks, go to the Middle East. They are expected to leave tomorrow.

The official said that the U.S. expects McFarlane to be received by the Syrians. One of the reasons for Philip Habib being replaced by McFarlane was that Syrian President Hafez Assad refused to allow Habib to come to Damascus after Israel and Lebanon signed the agreement for Israeli withdrawal. The Administration official stressed that full Israeli withdrawal is contingent on the simultaneous withdrawal of the Syrians and the Palestine Liberation Organization forces in Lebanon.

‘COMMON OBJECTIVES’ IN LEBANON

Both Shultz and the Israeli ministers said today that the U.S. and Israel have “common objectives” in Lebanon. They listed them as the withdrawal of all foreign forces, the restoration of full sovereignty to the Lebanese government and the security of northern Israel. The only differences were that Shultz listed withdrawal as the first objective while Shamir started his list with Israeli security.

Shultz and Shamir also noted that during the talks at the State Department and with Reagan, the Israelis and Americans also discussed bilateral issues, the West Bank and the overall peace process. The Administration official who was briefing reporters noted that Reagan reiterated his commitment to his September I peace initiative. The official said that Reagan repeated his belief that the Israeli settlements on the West Bank hampered the peace process. Shamir said that the peace process should be continued as soon as possible but within the context of the Camp David agreements.

At the outset of his remarks, Shultz expressed his appreciation for the Israelis having “come over here so promptly” when they were invited by Reagan after Premier Menachem Begin cancelled his scheduled visit for this week for “personal reasons.” He said it showed “the urgency we all feel” on the situation in Lebanon.

Shultz also noted that it had been like “old home week” since he had worked with Shamir and Arens in Jerusalem last May in arranging the Israeli-Lebanese agreement. He called that agreement “good” and stressed that “when it is implemented it will be good for Israel, it will be good for Lebanon and it will be good for the Middle East.”