December 4, 1998
JERUSALEM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Two top Israeli security officials
recommended at a meeting of military policymakers that Israel
withdraw troops from Lebanon unconditionally, the Yedioth
Ahronoth newspaper said on Friday.
The newspaper said the head of Israel's domestic Shin Bet
security service and the deputy chief of the Mossad intelligence
agency both advocated a pullout during a meeting convened last
week to discuss Israel's Lebanon policy.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said he was checking the report.
Other officials could not be reached for comment.
A wave of attacks by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group which
recently killed seven Israeli soldiers in a 10-day period has
reignited a public debate on Israel's presence in the zone.
The newspaper, quoting officials who participated in the five-hour
meeting, said Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai told the
security forum he remained opposed to to an unconditional
withdrawal.
Mordechai told parliament earlier this week that a majority of
Israeli army commanders believed the best military response to
the Lebanon question was to keep troops in place.
Israel has controlled the 15 km (nine mile)-deep south Lebanon
occupation zone since 1985. It set up the area with the declared
aim of preventing guerrilla attacks on Israel.
The newspaper quoted one participant at the meeting as saying
Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon sharply criticized the army's strategy
in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is willing
to end the 20-year troop presence in south Lebanon provided the
Lebanese army deploys southward to prevent incursions by
Hezbollah into northern Israel.
Syria and Lebanon both say an Israeli withdrawal must be
unconditional.
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