Lebanon Again — And the Israelis Are Quiet

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JERUSALEM MANY Israelis seemed reluctant last week to talk about their Army's latest victory. For the first time, the Israeli Army sought a direct confrontation with the pro-Palestinian Party of God in southern Lebanon, killing 40 of the Shiite Moslem militiamen and losing three of their men.

The Israeli soldiers also came within a few miles of Syrian front lines in Lebanon, risking a conflict with Syria. The incursion had started as a sweep against suspected strongholds of Palestinian guerrillas in southern Lebanon.

When no such guerrillas were found, the Moslem militiamen in the area who were considered friendly to the Palestinians and hostile to Israel were sought and attacked. But as the troops were deep in battle in Lebanon, Israelis seemed to want to avoid the subject.

As Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was touring the towns in the Negev desert on Wednesday, people asked him about the troubles in the West Bank, about the Middle East peace process, about roads and water and a long list of local issues. But hardly anyone asked him about Lebanon.

Israel's Lebanon experience in 1982 so wounded the country that “most people don't even want to think about Lebanon anymore,” a senior Government official acknowledged last week. “It's just like your Vietnam,” the official explained.

“Our Lebanon is behind us, and when it comes up again, people realize it has to be done and just quietly hope it can be over as soon as possible.” Uneasiness about Lebanon seemed everywhere. When word of the attack spread, Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised that the troops would be home “at the very latest within 48 hours.”

And, apprised of the Defense Minister's comment, Mr. Peres was asked, “Is Rabin's 48 hours anything like Sharon's 40 kilometers?” — a reference to Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. At the start of the invasion, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon promised to push no farther than 25 miles into Lebanon, then rapidly advanced his troops to the outskirts of Beirut.

Few Were Consulted [...] The Government, meanwhile, debated what to do about an NBC News report that troops were being sent into Lebanon. It was broadcast before the soldiers had actually crossed the border and had not been submitted to the military censor. Some in the Government believed that the report alerted Palestinian guerrillas so they could flee.

In Washington, the United States denounced the incursion. “We deplore this kind of violence, and we do believe that Lebanon would be best served by withdrawal of all foreign forces,” Marlin Fitzwater, the White House spokesman, said in Washington, using unusually strong language. But that criticism had little, if any, impact here.

By week's end, the incursion was over, and all the troops had returned to their bases. “I'm sure that the action will have an effect on the residents” of southern Lebanon, said the Army Chief of Staff, Lieut. Gen. Dan Shomron. But he added, “It is difficult for me to know how much of an effect.” There was one immediate result.

The Lebanese press reported that the attack had brought about a rapprochement between the Party of God and a rival Shiite faction, Amal, suggesting that now the two could work together against Israel. A Party of God spokesman in southern Lebanon vowed bloody revenge against “the Zionist enemy.”

And just a few hours after the Israeli troops had withdrawn to Israel, six Soviet-made rockets were reportedly fired into Israel's declared security zone just over the border in Lebanon.

How this transcription was made

Masthead not readable on the scan. The label on the slide read: [no masthead on clipping] — One scan of a Week in Review "The World" page, read at 9x in six sections across three columns. The excerpt skips one passage under the subhead "Few Were Consulted" (on Rabin ordering the attack on Maidun without first consulting other Cabinet ministers, and ministers learning of it on the radio); the omission is marked [...]. No masthead, date line or page number appears on the clipping; the date rests on Maria's slide label, supported by the standing section logo "The World" and the week-in-review voice ("last week"). SEE THE LABEL PROBLEM NOTED ON THE OTHER TWO CLIPPINGS FROM THIS SLIDE.

Cite this clipping

"Lebanon Again — And the Israelis Are Quiet," (newspaper unidentified), 8 May 1988. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1988-121. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1988-121