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By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

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BY WAY OF DECEPTION 247pasted on the package and the cheese would still be fresh. Nowthat's inflation!Prime Minister Menachem Begin, 67, and his ruling Likud Partywere facing a severe political challenge from Shimon Peres, 57,and his Labor Party, further complicated by the fact that one <strong>of</strong>Begin's ministers, Abu Hatsrea, had been caught in an electionpay<strong>of</strong>f scandal and sent to jail. The June 29 election, in fact,ended in a 48-48 tie, but Begin was able to enlist the help <strong>of</strong> somesplinter parties to build a bare majority <strong>of</strong> 61 in the 120-memberKnesset.Shortly before that, on June 7, Israel had provoked the ire <strong>of</strong> theUnited States by attacking and destroying an Iraqi nuclear plant,*and the Americans had clamped a temporary embargo on theshipment <strong>of</strong> F-16s to Israel, even supporting a UN resolutioncondemning the attack. Israel also stepped up its attacks inLebanon and, for a time in late July, appeared headed for all-outwar against Syria. U.S. special envoy Philip Habib, a retired careerdiplomat <strong>of</strong> Lebanese descent, was hopping around the MiddleEast trying to negotiate agreement on a peace plan. U.S. StateDepartment counsellor Robert McFarlane was sent to see Begin inJuly to attempt to get him to rein in his war machine.For the Mossad, this wasn't all bad. The one thing they didn'twant to happen was to see peace breaking out all over. So, therewas a lot <strong>of</strong> activity designed to prevent serious negotiations — yetanother example <strong>of</strong> how dangerous it is to have such anorganization with no one to answer to.For Yassar Arafat and his PLO, it wasn't a quiet year, either. In1974, Arafat had denounced terrorist acts by his organizationoutside the borders <strong>of</strong> Israel, chiefly in Europe. And whilePalestinian terrorism did continue in Europe, it was conducted bya variety <strong>of</strong> factions opposed to Arafat. Indeed, outside theoccupied territories, Arafat is not that powerful in the Palestinianmovement. His strength derives from the West Bank and GazaStrip where, except with Muslim fundamentalists, he enjoysoverwhelming personal popularity.* See PROLOGUE: OPERATION SPHINX

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