Israel should withdraw from Lebanon unilaterally says Israeli official
Lebanon-Israel, International, 3/2/1998

Prime Minister Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that Israel is prepared to accept Security Council Resolution 425 and pull out of Lebanon, on the condition that the security of residents in the north be guaranteed, along with the security of its allies in Lebanon.

Netanyahu's remarks were seen as a positive response to the secret report he received from Washington [see Syria challenges Israel to move on peace talks today] . Observers believe they may have also come to weather anticipated international pressure on Israel to push the Middle East peace process forward. Israel has expressed in the past its willingness to pull out of the occupied south Lebanon but has always put a set of conditions. Lately, mounting pressure from the public and even from within the army is believed to be the factor that led the Israeli government towards adopting this approach.

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai is expected to leave to France and Holland this weekend to meet with defense and foreign ministers of both countries, Hebrew Haaretz daily reported Sunday. It said Mordechai will raise with his French counterpart the proposal to implement UN Security Council Resolution 425 that calls for Israel's complete withdrawal from south Lebanon. In his last visit to France a few months ago, Mordechai discussed a proposal to deploy French forces in south Lebanon in part of a peace-keeping force that would take over after Israeli troops are pulled out.

Israeli officials and public figures had recently admitted that the current "war of attrition" that Hizbullah fighters wage against Israel in south Lebanon has become very expensive. Tel Aviv mayor Roni Milo told Israel television Saturday night that the war of attrition should not be allowed to continue. "We should withdraw unilaterally from south Lebanon and make it clear that should our northern towns be attacked, our response will be devastating against the Lebanese infrastructure," he said.

Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel would be ready to withdraw from south Lebanon and implement the 1978 UN Security Council Resolution 425 but said the withdrawal "cannot be implemented before we receive appropriate security guarantees from the Lebanese government that its forces will take over in the south and will prevent anti-Israel attacks."

But Netanyahu did not wait for long. The Lebanese government issued a statement in Beirut rejecting any possibility of delivering to Israel security guarantees in conjunction with its military pullout from south Lebanon. "The Lebanese government demands a full, unconditional, Israeli withdrawal, in accord with UN Resolution 425," the statement said.

Netanyahu argued that "had Syria wanted to do so, it could have prevented Hizbullah attacks against Israel but it uses Lebanon as an alternative battlefield, in order to pressure Israel.²

Previous Stories:
  Five Israel soldiers killed, wounded in south Lebanon   (2/27/1998)
  Lahd begs Israel not to leave him   (11/24/1997)
  Israeli hell-bent on destroying Lebanon's people, economy and Beirut   (9/16/1997)

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