DATE=4/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / LEBANON (L)
NUMBER=2-261019
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Israeli defense officials are warning
that the government's plans to withdraw Israeli
troops from southern Lebanon could lead to
attacks on Israeli towns that border Lebanon.
VOA's Meredith Buel reports from Jerusalem.
TEXT: Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim
Sneh says in an interview with Israeli radio that
fighting along the Lebanese border is inevitable
unless a peace agreement is signed with Syria or
a United Nations peacekeeping force protects the
border.
Mr. Sneh says "there are two possibilities --
either a deal or fighting."
In the absence of a peace deal with Syria, Mr.
Sneh says Israel is trying to rally support for
the United Nations to - as he puts it - "fill the
vacuum" created by the departing soldiers.
When asked if the situation could deteriorate
into war, the deputy defense minister said "a
confrontation is possible - definitely."
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon --
known as UNIFIL -- consists of about four-
thousand-five-hundred soldiers and has been
mostly powerless to stop the frequent violence in
southern Lebanon.
Israel set up a 15-kilometer wide buffer zone in
south Lebanon in 1985 to protect northern
communities from cross border attacks.
Since then Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas
have fought a war of attrition against Israeli
soldiers and the South Lebanon Army - a militia
financed and trained by Israel.
/// OPT /// Mr. Sneh's remarks come on the same
day an Israeli newspaper (Ma'ariv) is reporting
that most of the army's military commanders are
opposed to a unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon.
The report says many senior army officers are
severely criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak's plan to pull Israeli soldiers out of
south Lebanon by July of this year, with or
without a peace agreement with Syria.
The newspaper says the officers are concerned Mr.
Barak is leading the army and the country into a
trap. /// END OPT ///
Syria has 35-thousand soldiers in Lebanon and is
considered the major power broker in the country.
Peace talks between Israel and Syria are
currently stalled and both sides have been
pessimistic about the chances for a peace
agreement before the July deadline.
Damascus is demanding that Israel withdraw from
the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the
1967 Middle East war.
Prime Minister Barak has reportedly offered to
pull out of the Golan but wants to keep the
eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee under Israeli
sovereignty - an offer rejected by Syria.
Earlier this week, Mr. Barak played down
prospects for cross-border violence and said he
sees no need for a large multinational buffer
force in south Lebanon. (Signed)
NEB/MB/GE/KL
06-Apr-2000 12:40 PM EDT (06-Apr-2000 1640 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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