Premier Menachem Begin served notice on the Palestine Liberation Organization that if any Israeli citizen is killed as a result of a PLO attack anywhere, Israel would take “immediate action” against the PLO in south Lebanon.
His remarks, in an interview with a Colombian journalist, implied that Israel would disregard the cease-fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border if the PLO caused casualties among Israelis. Begin noted that a number of bombs have been found in various places in recent days but were defused before they did any harm. He said this was due to the alertness of the population. “But if some people get killed, we will take immediate action,” he said.
Referring to recent reports that the U.S. might provide mobile Hawk air defense systems and F-16 jet fighters to Jordan, Begin said “It appears that we have been kicked in a place I cannot describe. I cannot use military language, but it is a long distance from the head.”
He was obviously referring to a remark attributed to Secretary of State Alexander Haig in notes taken by a participant in a State Department staff meeting, leaked to The Washington Post. Haig was quoted as saying that the dangerous Middle East situation “comes from kicking Israel in the ass.”
In the course of the interview, Begin rebuked France for supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. He said Paris should pay attention to its own autonomy problem on Corsica, adding that the Corsicans have never threatened to destroy France.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
