Miami Herald
More in Israel urge pulling out of Lebanon
By JOHN DONNELLY
Herald Staff Writer
JERUSALEM -- Israel's long-running war in Lebanon, a battle with no end in
sight and a death toll that has escalated sharply, faced strong criticism from
the left and right on Sunday. For the first time, many prominent right-wing
politicians argued for a unilateral withdrawal.
The country's best-known hawk, Ariel Sharon, who as defense minister led
Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, said Sunday that it was time to find a
way to end the costly fight.
Sharon was joined in his criticism by other Likud members of the Israeli
Cabinet, including Public Safety Minister Avigdor Kahalani, and by one of
Israel's most prominent doves -- Yossi Beilin.
Beilin, a former peace negotiator, announced a new bipartisan movement
``for the peaceful departure from Lebanon.''
The sudden get-out-of-Lebanon push follows a botched raid in south
Lebanon on Friday that ended with the deaths of 11 naval commandos and a
missing commando who is presumed dead. On Sunday, there was another
fatality: A mortar bomb killed an officer in a bunker in south Lebanon.
This year's toll stands at 30 dead Israeli soldiers, already the highest
number of deaths in any year since Israel established a security zone in
1985. In the last five years, 126 have died,
compared with 53 deaths in the five-year period before that.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting
Sunday that the talk of pulling out of Lebanon would hurt negotiations.
``All of us want to get out of Lebanon, but only under the right conditions,''
Netanyahu said, according to Israel Radio. ``But the rash talk of a hasty
departure under pressure only encourages the Hezbollah and fuels the
Hezbollah's rocket engines.''
Hezbollah, the Iranian-funded Party of God, has been waging a guerrilla war
against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon for a dozen years. Israel
established the zone to try to protect its northern settlements from attacks
by Hezbollah.
The fighting on the last active Arab-Israeli war front will be on the agenda of
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright when she visits the region for a
weeklong trip beginning Wednesday. The subject is sure to arise in talks
with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with Syrian President Hafez Assad in
Damascus.
Syria's hegemony in Lebanon -- it has an estimated 40,000 soldiers there --
includes allowing weapons and materials to travel to Hezbollah fighters in
the Bekaa Valley and in villages north of Israel's security zone.
The question in Israel today is not so much whether to get out of Lebanon --
but how. Sharon, and others such as Beilin, say that a unilateral withdrawal
may be Israel's best option. Others want the option of withdrawal used as a
bargaining chip in negotiations with Damascus, which is demanding the
return of the Golan Heights captured by Israel in 1967 Middle East War.
``In the next six months, I think we will see a change,'' said Gerald
Steinberg, a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for
Strategic Studies. ``Almost every political leader is getting involved in this.''
The public also has expressed its dissatisfaction. A poll conducted by TV's
Channel One on Saturday showed that 52 percent of those questioned were
in favor of withdrawal, 34 percent were opposed and 14 percent weren't
sure. The poll's margin of error was 4 percent.
But Steinberg believes the next step is not easily predictable: ``We could
see an intensification, an escalation, less of a war of attrition and one where
there's use of heavier equipment and air force bombings. Or, we could have
a decision to implement a unilateral withdrawal.''
One major factor is whether Netanyahu begins receiving blame for the
deaths.
``The combination of Lebanon and the terror attack in Jerusalem on
Thursday [in which four Israelis were killed] is a greater sign of weakness in
Netanyahu than all the corruption investigations,'' said Steinberg, who has
many friends in the Netanyahu government. ``That is what he was elected
on, peace and security. There is a great deal of talk now in Israel that the
government is failing to protect us. The talk is that this government is not
any better than the previous government.''
Sharon, writing in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper Sunday, argued for the
separation of ``our problems'' in Lebanon and negotiations with Syria
because there never would be a guarantee that Syria would stop using
Hezbollah ``as an instrument in political negotiations.''
He suggests two possible solutions: Stay in south Lebanon but change
strategy with more air strikes and abandoning reliance on ground troops; or
pulling out ``without paying Syria any political-security tribute.''
``One thing is clear: It would be wrong and unjustifiable to discontinue the
current policy, which depends upon the heroism of the soldiers,'' Sharon
said. ``. . . All minds should be mobilized immediately because in Lebanon a
costly battle is going on.''
Email: yona@netvision.net.il