The Daily Texan [article]

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin, The University Of Texas At
2022
Pro-govemment demonstrators in Jerusalem carry signs and sing in support of Begin and Sharon Tuesday after both men were found to have been negligent in the massacre of Palestinian refugees. report Sharon blamed in massacre United Press International JERUSALEM -Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon defi antly refused to resign Tuesday despite pressure from Cabi net colleagues and an Israeli panel of inquiry that found he bore "personal responsibility" for the massacre of Palestini an refugees
more » ... Beirut. "It is impossible to justify the defense minister's disregard of the danger of a m assacre," the panel said in criticizing Sharon for personally ordering Christian militiamen into the Chatila and Sabra cam ps where they slaughtered hundreds of Palestinians Sept. 16-18. The comm ission's 108-page report faulted Prime Minister Menachem Begin for indifference to Sharon's actions and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir for ignoring a warning the killings were under w ay but did not ask for the removal of either of those men. Israel bears "indirect responsibility" for the massacre, the commission said. State-run Israel television, following a two-hour Cabinet meeting, said the embattled Sharon "w ould not resign on his ow n" and indicated Begin would have to fire the contro versial minister. Sharon told his supporters at an evening Tel Aviv rally the nation's fate "d o es not depend on one m an ," but he refused to say if he would quit. The governm ent earlier said "alm ost all the ministers" were leaning toward acceptance of the commission's recom mendation Sharon quit or be fired. A second special C abinet meeting was scheduled for W ednesday. Along with Sharon, the com mission said Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, chief of military intelligence, should re sign, and form er Beirut area com m ander Amos Yaron should.be kept from field com mand for three years. The National Religious Party, the Begin governm ent's chief coalition partner, called immediately for Sharon's resig nation. Sharon personally gave the order allowing the Christian militiamen to assault Sabra and Chatila cam ps, surrounded by the Israeli arm y, to rem ove what he claimed were 2,000 Palestinian guerrillas hiding there. Sharon inform ed Begin and the Cabinet of his order about 90 m inutes after the Phalangist militiamen were inside H undreds were killed in the m assacre, but an accurate toll may never be determined. The bodies of 328 victims were/' recovered, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense, but many m ore were listed as "m issin g." The commission, reluctantly appointed by the govern m ent, sketched a profile of Sharon showing him to be insen sitive to the fate of the Palestinians at the hands of the Chris tian militiamen. During Lebanon's 1975-76 civil war, mass killings of Chris tians by Palestinians, and vice versa, were comm on. The Sept. 14 assassination of Christian leader and Lebanese Pres ident-elect Bashir Gemayel, provoked further Christian an ger against the Palestinians, who were suspected of being behind the killing. "From the defense minister himself, we know that this consideration did not concern him in the least," the report said. "In our view, the minister of defense made a grave mistake when he ignored the dangers of acts of revenge. "W e have found that the minister of defense bears person al responsibility," the report said. White H ouse spokesman Larry Speakes said of the com mission's findings: "It's strictly an internal Israeli m atter." Neither the Lebanese government nor the Christian militia com m ented on the findings. Begin was not spared in the report. "W e find no reason to exem pt the prime m inister from responsibility for not having evinced, during or after the Cabinet session (Sept. 17), any interest in the Phalange's actions in the cam p s," the com m ission said. The com m ission said Begin was aware the Christian militi am en m ight use the Palestinian refugees as a target for re venge follow ing the assassination of Gemayel. No recom m endations were made regarding the future of the com m ander of Israeli troops in Lebanon, M aj. Gen. Amir Drori. But the report said he was guilty of "breach of d uty" for doing "n o th in g about the behavior of the Phalange and for failing to raise the matter with C hief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rafael Eitan at the rime. T he panel reached "grave conclusions" about Eitan's "in a ctio n " but witheld a recom m endation about his future since his five-year term ends in April.
doi:10.26153/tsw/33345 fatcat:vr6dimalnfblxmdx4dj4p5ac34