SOUTH LEBANON ANNEXATION BY ISRAEL FEARED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150047-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2012
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: September 27, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150047-7
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27 SEVTa-EE 1982
territory and will create a Christian
regime which will ally itself with Is-
rael," Dayan reportedly continued.
"The territory from the Litani [Riv-
er] southward will be totally annexed'
by Israel and everything will be all
right."
The Dayan scenario was followed
to the letter, even to the choice of
the cooperative Christian leader's
military rank. Maj. Saad Haddad, a
cashiered Lebanese officer, has been
acting as Israel's puppet warlord in
the Litani River area for years.
The secret Sept. 15 'report pre-
dicted that Israel would try to be-
stow legitimacy on Haddad, possibly,
by insisting that he be included in .
any future Lebanese regime. His role
in the massacres at the Palestinian
refugee camps in West Beirut may
have destroyed his chances, however.
Israel's covetous designs on south-
ern Lebanon are explained in a top-
secret CLk report, which states:
"
Hardliners in Israel have for years
pointed out that Israel, by seizing
territory up to the Litani River,
would gain a more defensive border
and a greater supply of water." .
At the start of the West Beirut
invasion, Begin assured Reagan in a
private message that Israel "did not
covet one inch of Lebanese territo-
ry " In early June, he had publicly
declared in the Knesset that Israel
didn't want "one square millimeter
of Lebanese territory."
The White House no longer has
faith in.these assurances.
.South Lebanon
Annexation. by
Israel Feared .
White House suspicion of Israel
has become so intense that President
Reagan's top advisers are now won-
dering whether Prime Minister.
Menachem Begin is planning the
eventual annexation of southern
Lebanon.
Secret reports shown to my asso-
ciates Dale Van Atta and Ron
McRae indicate why the White
House is disturbed.
One secret State Department re-
port, for example, had this to say on
Sept. 15, as the Israeli invasion of
West Beirut was proceeding apace:
There is a danger that Israel's "lo-
gistical operations will evolve into
permanent administrative agencies."
In other words, the suspicion is
that Israel is in the process of build-
ing a military-civilian government
for Israeli-occupied Lebanon.
The same pattern of Israeli infil-
tration that has been seen in the
Wiest Bank territories seems to be
evolving in Lebanon. The ultra-
nationalist extremist group, Gush
Emunim, is planning to put Israeli
settlements in southern Lebanon,
according to U.S. reports.
If Begin follows his past action, he
will not denounce these settlements
for fear of criticism from hardline
Israeli factions that are the bedrock
of his political support. Instead, be
will see that the bootleg settlements
are hooked up to water and electric-
ity to make them permanently via-
ble.
The Gush Emunim and the Israeli
Army's chief rabbi, Gen. Gad Navon,
believe that God may be giving them
southern Lebanon to compensate for
Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai.
The chaplain's support would be a
key element in transforming tempo-
rary. military governments into per-
manent civilian bodies.
A significant historical note
should be mentioned here. It adds
fuel to the White House suspicions.
A former Israeli prime minister,
Moshe Sharett, published an intrigu-
ing account in 1978 of a meeting of
Israeli defense and foreign policy
officials. The meeting occurred 27
years ago, and quotes the late Moshe
Dayan, then army chief of staff, as
sayingg Lebanon was ripe for the
pic.
"The only thing that's necessary is
to find an officer, even just a major,"
Dayan said, according to the ac-
count. "We would either win his
heart or buy him with money, to
make him agree to declare himself
the savior of the Maronite [Chris.
tian] population.
"Then the Israeli army will enter
Lebanon, will occupy the necessary
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150047-7