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Lebanese Dance

With Israel moving unilaterally,
the Lebanese and Syrians play a strange game.

in Tel Aviv on Monday, Washington
will not deploy troops in southern
Lebanon as part of an international
peacekeeping force following the
Jerusalem
Israeli withdrawal.
f there was any remaining uncer-
It was somehow fitting that Levy's
tainty, Israel made it clear this
diplomatic encounter signaling Israel's
week that it is planning to pro-
determination to make the unilateral
ceed with a withdrawal of its
withdrawal — in the face of angry
forces from southern Lebanon.
Syrian objections — should be held in
Prime Minister Ehud Barak conveyed
the same city where Syrian President
the message clearly to visiting U.S.
Hafez Assad last week pulled down
Defense Secretary William Cohen, and
the curtain on Israeli-Syrian peace
Foreign Minister David Levy traveled to
negotiations.
Geneva to convey the same message to
Assad's flat rejection of Israel's peace
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
proposals, which President Clinton per-
The deadline for a withdrawal is still
sonally conveyed to the Syrian leader in
July 7, but the actual date may come
Geneva, was greeted with incredulity
even sooner as Barak gives up any lin-
both in Jerusalem and in Washington.
gering hope of a comprehensive agree-
If Assad was going to offer a humili-
ment with Syria.
ating rejection, Israeli and U.S. officials
Barak pledged in his election cam-
wondered, why had Assad asked Clinton
paign last year to withdraw Israeli.
to meet him in the first place? The offi-
troops from southern Lebanon by July,
cials have been hoping that Assad was
with or without a comprehensive
playing a game of brinkmanship, but
peace agreement with Syria.
with each passing day since the Geneva
Now, apparently, the "with" option
summit, that hope is fading.
has evaporated and only the "without"
"The ball is in Syria's court,"
scenario remains.
Clinton said after the summit — and
The Israeli premier, badly hurt
it appears that it will be staying there
politically by Syria's recent rejection of
indefinitely as Syrian diplomats fan
his peace proposal, must now deliver
out among Arab and world capitals to
on the Lebanon withdrawal or he will
explain that it was Israel's obstinacy
lose his remaining credibility with the
that blocked an agreement.
Israeli public.
Syria is demanding a full return of
To Egypt and other moderate Arab
the Golan Heights to the boundary
states, Barak's motives and intentions
that existed before the 1967 Six-Day
blend comfortably into their broader
War — including the eastern shore of
strategy.
the Sea of Galilee.
After all, as the Egyptians have
Israel, which demands full control
publicly pointed out, it is patently
of
what
is its most significant water
illogical for the Arabs to oppose what
source, suggested trading land else-
they have always demanded: Israel's
where for the slim strip of shoreline.
withdrawal from sovereign Arab soil.
Barak and other Israeli officials have
Barak has sought international
backing for the planned withdrawal by . pointed to the 1923 international bor-
der carved out by Britain and France,
saying it would take place under the
which did not give the Syrians any pres-
terms of U.N. Security Council
ence on the Galilee.
Resolution 425, which called for the
Clinton implicitly endorsed Barak's
pullback in 1978 — and which Israel
offer to Assad.
now plans to implement.
Syria rejected the offer — and it is
The resolution was expected to top
now opposing Israel's plans for a unilat-
the agenda during Levy's meeting in
eral withdrawal from Lebanon.
Geneva with Annan.
Syria has long used Hezbollah gun-
The United States, which had asked
men in southern Lebanon as a proxy,
Israel to slow its diplomatic prepara-
giving them the green light to step up
tions for the withdrawal, now seems
attacks on Israeli troops to try to force
to be agreeing with Levy's overture to
Israeli concessions — particularly on the
the international community.
Golan.
Just the same, as Cohen made dear

DAVID LANDAU
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

I

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