Middle East: The Spotlight Shifts to Begin

He testifies about the massacre, and cuts short a U.S. trip

He had walked from his car, a black cane in his right hand, into the second-floor lecture hall on the campus of Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Taking his seat opposite the table where the panel would sit, he smiled, then rose respectfully when the three members of the commission entered the room. "My name is Begin, Menachem. My position, Prime Minister," he began. It was the first time an Israeli Prime Minister had ever appeared in public session before an official commission of inquiry, and the outcome could well have grave consequences for Begin and his government. At issue: What responsibility did the Israeli government have for the massacre that took place in the Palestinian refugee camps outside Beirut two months ago?

Soon after the hearing, Begin departed for what was to have been a ten-day trip to the U.S., culminating in a meeting with President Reagan at the White House this week. But just as he was about to address a Jewish group in Los Angeles on Saturday evening, Begin received word from Jerusalem that his wife of 43 years, Aliza, 62, had died. She had been suffering from complications of the respiratory system. Begin, who was very close to his wife, had postponed his trip to the U.S. several times in order to remain by her side. The fact that he should travel abroad at all, knowing that Aliza's health was failing, was an indication of how seriously he wanted to mend relations with the U.S. in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

The bad news came at the end of a week in which Begin had had more than his share of troubles. He had been severely criticized by the Israeli press following his appearance before the commission. His testimony, which took 47 minutes, was frequently contradictory; Begin appeared not to have reviewed documents pertaining to the events beforehand. He said he did not learn that the Christian militiamen had been allowed by Israeli occupation forces to enter the camps until a few hours afterward at a Cabinet meeting. He also insisted that no one in command had raised the possibility that the Phalangists would harm anyone but "terrorists." Said Begin: "Nobody conceived of the danger of acts of atrocity."

The members of the commission reminded Begin that the Phalangists had committed other massacres in the past. They also read from Cabinet minutes and other documents to show that the possibility of revenge killings by the militiamen in the aftermath of the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel had been raised not only in Begin's presence but by the Prime Minister himself. He had, in fact, told U.S. Negotiator Morris Draper that the Israeli army had moved into West Beirut, in defiance of the agreement that had been negotiated for the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, "to prevent bloodshed."