redeployment

Monday, April 12, 1999

IDF downplays policy change on redeployment in Lebanon

Ha'aretz Military Correspondent, By Amos Harel

                  Defense Minister Moshe Arens's declared intention to
                  reduce the number of IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon is
                  continuing to make waves. Prime Minister Benjamin
                  Netanyahu clarified yesterday that he was involved in
                  fashioning the policy change, while the IDF continued to
                  wonder what policy change everyone was talking about.

                  Meanwhile, President Ezer Weizman said that he has the
                  impression that Arens was not in step with the army when
                  announcing the change. Weizman spoke to reporters
                  yesterday at a ceremony renaming the Tel HaShomer
                  military base after the IDF's first chief of staff, Yaakov Dori:
                  "I have great admiration for the defense minister. I respect
                  him. I was also defense minister once. But I have a clear
                  feeling that this (Arens's declaration) was not
                  well-coordinated with the IDF."

                  At the end of the ceremony, Weizman approached the
                  current chief of staff, Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, and
                  said: "I hope I haven't gotten you into trouble."

                  Mofaz was asked at the same event for his position and
                  responded: "We're in the process of taking action. We are
                  assessing the situation in Lebanon. This is what we've
                  done in the past months. This has led us to the direction of
                  decreasing the permanent presence in the outposts in order
                  to reduce the exposure of IDF soldiers and increase their
                  mobile operations." The chief of staff avoided giving a
                  direct answer to the question of whether the IDF has
                  received a directive from the defense minister regarding a
                  cutback in troop deployment in Lebanon.

                  Senior army sources repeated yesterday that there has
                  been no recent change in policy, but the IDF has already
                  been reducing the number of soldiers positioned in
                  Lebanese outposts for a number of months. Other
                  measures aimed at reducing Israeli casualties include a
                  sharp decrease in the number of Israeli convoys, handing
                  over some outposts to the South Lebanon Army and some
                  supply routes to Lebanese contractors.