The Retreat from Camp David • 3911982, calling for Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, free
elections, and a five-year transition period to autonomy for the Palestini¬
ans and probable federation with Jordan. Israel and the PLO rejected the
plan, Egypt accepted it, Jordan looked it over warily, and the Americans
quietly shelved it. The Arab heads of state, meeting at Fez one week later,
produced their own plan, proposing a Palestinian state and hinting at rec¬
ognizing Israel. The Americans ignored the Arab initiative.
But everyone was watching Lebanon, where Washington acted inconsis¬
tently. Vetoing UN Security Council resolutions and arming Israel's forces
made the US a de facto accomplice of the invasion. American diplomat
Philip Habib had shuttled between Jerusalem, Beirut, and Damascus until
he came up with an arrangement that provided for a partial Israeli pull-
back and a complete Palestinian withdrawal from the western half of
Beirut, both of which were to be supervised by US Marines and French
and Italian soldiers. Negotiations would continue among the parties to set
up a new government and to evacuate all foreign forces from Lebanon. In
August the fighting in Beirut abated, allowing Israel's forces to pull back
and permitting the PLO to get out. Meanwhile, Lebanon's parliament—
unchanged for ten years—met to elect a new president. The sole candidate
was Bashir Jumayyil, a leader of the Maronite paramilitary group called
the Phalanges. Owing to his ties to the Christian side in the civil war, many
opposition deputies boycotted the session at which Jumayyil was elected.
Elated, Begin hoped Israel could reach a lasting peace with a Christian-
dominated Lebanon.
The other side did not give up. On 14 September a bomb blew up the
Phalanges' headquarters in east Beirut, killing the occupants, including
Bashir Jumayyil. The IDF promptly occupied west Beirut and began root¬
ing out PLO pockets of resistance that remained, in violation of Habib's
peace plan. The IDF allowed the Phalanges to enter the Palestinian "camps"
of Shatila and Sabra, where the Lebanese Christians massacred hundreds of
Palestinian men, women, and children during a two-day rampage. Every¬
one was shocked, including the Israelis, who set up a commission to look
into the cause of the massacres. The Israeli commission found that the IDF
commander, General Ariel Sharon, had facilitated the Sabra and Shatila
massacres and called for his exclusion from future cabinets. The US-
French-Italian force was brought back into Beirut—for a longer stay this
time—to restore peace. Lebanon's parliament elected Amin Jumayyil,
Bashir's older brother, to serve as president.
If Lebanon were to have peace, the domestic factions would have to revise
their government's constitution and disarm their numerous militia groups.
Foreign troops—the Syrians authorized by the Arab League to occupy