Fateful Triangle

Peace for Galilee451of the West Bank and Gaza being settled under the auspices of theagency that he directs. 207As for the government of Israel, it held fast throughout to its resolution“that the fight against the PLO permits no compromise—becausethe PLO wants it that way” (compare the facts reviewed in chapter 3),that the PLO threat is “political no less than military,” and that the PLOmust not be permitted to exist as a “political body.” The PLO men who“have entrenched themselves in the heart of residential West Beirut”have “again…created acute danger to the safety of the Lebanese as wellas Palestinian men, women and children from behind whom these PLOforces are sending out volleys of artillery and small-arms fire against theLebanese and Israeli forces in East Beirut and beyond” in “blatant violationof the rules of warfare.” 208 The emphasis on the “threat” posed bythe existence of the PLO as a “political body” is quite appropriate. Onemay plausibly read this as confirming evidence, from the highest source,for the thesis of Porath and others concerning the origins of the war,already discussed; reading this quite typical statement, one may alsorecall the regular indignation over the alleged refusal of the PLO (and theArabs generally) to accept the existence of Israel, the heart of the MiddleEast problem, it is commonly argued. One might have hoped, however,that the government of Israel would at least have stopped short ofaccusing the PLO of attacking Israeli forces in Beirut.Perhaps one can expect nothing more of the government. What thenwas the role of Israel’s opposition party throughout the war? Thereshould be few illusions in the light of its record when in office,particularly in the bloody 1950s and the expansionist post-1967 period.Amiram Cohen gives a detailed accounting of the deliberations of theLabor Party leadership during the critical events of 1982, based oninterviews with high level officials, including the leadership itself. 209Prior to the war, the leadership strongly opposed the military action thatClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky