Israel Secretly Joins the War in Lebanon

In the darkness of night, Israeli commandos dashed ashore in the Christian-controlled port of Jounieh, some nine miles north of Beirut. As soon as they established contact with the Lebanese garrison, both forces spread out and secured a landing area. A helicopter slowly whirred up from an Israeli cargo ship standing offshore, guarded by a small armada of missile ships. The helicopter, TIME has learned, brought to Jounieh a top Israeli official who spent the night in a series of secret conferences with various Lebanese leaders, then climbed back aboard his helicopter and flew out to sea again, just before dawn.

The official was Israeli Defense Minister Shimon Peres. His brief "invasion" of Lebanon--a nation with which Israel has no diplomatic ties--was the first of four trips between late May and late August. As if that were not extraordinary enough, he was accompanied on his third trip into Lebanon by none other than Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin, who held talks with as yet unnamed Lebanese leaders. Out of these negotiations has come a secret but potentially decisive Israeli intervention in the 17-month-old Lebanese civil war. Acting with the agreement of Lebanon's Christian leadership and a moderate group of Moslems, Israel is moving to wipe out forever the Palestinian guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon. As Foreign Minister Yigal Allon said last week, "A situation will be created in which we will not permit any faction to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to act against Israel from Lebanese regions close to the border."

Beyond that, the Israeli-Lebanese agreement has opened the way to an important readjustment in the Middle East lineup, one that could prove to be a genuine turning point in Israel's relations with its Arab neighbors. This marks the first time since the Jordanian crisis of 1970 that Israel is in active league with Arabs in a neighboring state. The arrangement also has, for the moment at least, put the Israelis on the same side as the Syrians, who months ago shifted from support of the Moslems in Lebanon to active intervention on the side of the Christians. The new deal is basically limited to the Palestinian guerrilla issue. It may not last; it may not lead to any broader agreement. But it does suggest at least a possibility for a peaceful settlement of the entire Middle East struggle.

The Israeli intervention already involves the following:

> Israel is maintaining a naval blockade of several leftist-controlled Lebanese ports, particularly Sidon and Tyre, thus keeping arms from reaching beleaguered leftist-Palestinian forces. The Israelis have so far intercepted 15 ships and torpedoed three others that tried to escape their patrols. Of the 15, six were ordered to Haifa, where weapons were removed--and later shipped on to Lebanese Christians--and several terrorists were apprehended.

> Israel is now training a battalion of mixed Lebanese Christian and Moslem troops in tank warfare at an Israeli base on the edge of the Sinai desert, at the opposite end of Israel from Lebanon. When the training is finished, they will be sent back to Lebanon with 38 American-made M50 Sherman tanks.

> Jerusalem has gained what amounts to de facto control over a strip of territory in southern Lebanon, reaching up to the Litani River. Only a few months ago, this strip was so dominated by Palestinian guerrillas that it was known as Fatahland. In addition, the Israelis are trying to arm and train Lebanese villagers in the area to guard against a renewal of Palestinian power. Indeed, that paid off just last week, when four terrorists tried to enter the Christian village of Ayn Ibil near the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese residents of the town killed all four in a gun battle.

> The tacit understanding between Israel and Syria has gone so far that Damascus has withdrawn most of its offensive military power from the Golan Heights. Last year the Syrians had five armored divisions standing between Damascus and the Israeli-occupied territory on the Heights. Gradually, those forces were shifted, either to Lebanon or to Syria's troubled border with Iraq.

Now there is only one armored division, stationed around Damascus, that is in position to ward off an Israeli attack.

The turning point in Israeli policy came last winter when the battered Christian forces in Lebanon seemed on the verge of defeat by the Palestinians and the Moslem leftists. Through contacts among intelligence agents in Cyprus, the Lebanese Christians put in a desperate request to Jerusalem for arms and ammunition. By May--shortly before Syrian army units began moving into Lebanon--a regular supply line from Israel to Jounieh and other northern Lebanese ports was in operation. The materiel included not only ammunition and light arms like the U.S. M-16 rifle but such heavy weapons as armored personnel carriers, Russian 122-mm. rockets and at least 22 T-54 tanks captured in the 1967 and 1973 wars.

In late May, with the arms shipments well under way, Defense Minister Peres made his first clandestine visit to Lebanon. It is not yet known exactly who welcomed Peres on this first mission, but the talks were so successful that he began regular voyages by missile ship. At the third meeting, with Rabin present, the talks moved away for the first time from strictly military matters to political concerns. The main subject: an alliance between Christians and moderate Moslems to combat the Palestinians and the Moslem leftists.

Strange Visitors. The arrangement between the Lebanese groups and Israel was reconfirmed only two weeks ago, when Peres made his fourth trip to Jounieh. This time he met with top Lebanese leaders, including former President Camille Chamoun and President-elect Elias Sarkis, both Christians, as well as Moslem former Premier Rashid Karami. The talks went so well that Peres decided to spend the night, sleeping on a cargo ship anchored off Jounieh. The next day the meetings went on with an ever-widening group of Christians and Moslems. "There were some strange visitors to see Peres," said one source, hinting that they included Syrians.

All this secret diplomacy resulted in what may be the most significant change in the Middle East situation since the 1973 war. Israel's role in Lebanon has been expanded from that of arms supplier to limited partner in the anti-guerrilla war effort. The change combines with the almost cordial relationship that Israel now has with Egypt and the slow disintegration of the unity the Arabs enjoyed in the wake of the 1973 conflict. With Libya at odds with both Egypt and Syria, and such oil-rich nations as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait supporting the region's moderates, Israel is no longer facing a solid wall of active Arab belligerency. The greatest losers in the situation, again, are the Palestinian guerrillas, whose hope of leading the way to a restored homeland seems feebler with every passing day.

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