The New York Times · New York, New York · 22 September 1982

CP-1982-060

PULLOUT OPPOSED

Cabinet Leaves Open the Possibility of Holding an Internal Inquiry

By DAVID K. SHIPLER

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Transcribed from the clipping

JERUSALEM, Sept. 21 — The Israeli Cabinet decided today to accept President Reagan’s proposal to send the three-nation peacekeeping force back to Beirut. But it rejected a call by the parliamentary opposition to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the Beirut massacre.

Although the Reagan Administration demanded an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Beirut, the Israeli Government insisted that its troops would remain until leftist Moslem militiamen and Palestinians were disarmed and the Lebanese Army was ready to take over key positions in the capital.

Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who presided over the five-hour Cabinet meeting, was reported to have opposed the naming of a judicial commission on the ground that it would give the appearance of Israeli involvement in the massacre.

The Cabinet left open the possibility that it might agree to some kind of internal examination of the massacre, in which Lebanese Christian militiamen slaughtered hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children last week.

The Government’s acceptance of the multinational force, made up of American, French and Italian troops, was an unavoidable concession in the face of United States anger over the massacre.

After the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel a week ago, Israel sent its troops into Moslem West Beirut to consolidate the political and military gains that it had made during the war. The main objective was to purge the area of leftist Moslem militiamen and any Palestinian guerrillas still in the capital.

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s withdrawal from Beirut — supervised by the multinational force — was completed on Sept. 1. But Israel said later that some guerrillas had stayed behind and gone underground. The disarming of leftists and Palestinians has been going on at a rapid pace, with huge, hidden depots of weapons uncovered every day by Israeli troops.

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