Mr. Speaker, from time to time our nation has an encounter with history. And
so, our soldiers are now in Tyre. We recall Ezekiel, chapter 27, verse 8: “Thy wise
men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots.” We are standing today in Sidon
and we recall Isaiah, chapter 23, verse 12: “Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou
oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.” We also recall the two chapters in the Book of
Kings on the friendship between Hiram, King of Tyre, and our King David, and on
the alliance our King Solomon formed with the King of Tyre at the time of the con-
struction of the First Temple. We will not be able to give Tyre what Solomon gave
it, but we can give it security, peace and tranquility. And only on condition that there
be peace and tranquility in Nahariya, which was shelled from Tyre for many years,
with Katyusha shells. No longer. All will be tranquil—both we and they.
The day will dawn, the day is coming soon, when we will renew negotiations with
the legitimate government of Lebanon and propose a peace treaty based on absolute
territorial integrity for Lebanon. I hereby announce—with the concurrence of all the
Zionist factions—that we do not want even one square millimeter of Lebanese terri-
tory. We ask for only one thing: That our border be renewed—peaceful, green, quiet
and beautiful—between Lebanon and Israel. As it existed 19 whole years. Because this
pastoral, beautiful, quiet was completely destroyed by these murderers.
That is our goal. There is a basis for believing that we will achieve it, God will-
ing. There will be peace for the Galilee, peace for Israel, peace for the Middle East,
peace for all nations.
SOURCE: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20
Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1982-1984/7%20Statement%20in%20the%20Knesset%20by%20
Prime%20Minister%20Begin.U.S. Involvement in Lebanon
DOCUMENT IN CONTEXT
In September 1982, Lebanon appeared to be on the verge of even greater chaos than
it had suffered at anytime since the outbreak of civil war in 1975. The armies of Israel
and Syria controlled most of the country, while renegade militias wreaked havoc almost
everywhere. Following the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel and the sub-
sequent massacre of Palestinians the at Shabra and Shatila refugee camps by Phalange
militiamen, Western leaders concluded that only a large-scale international presence
could bring some stability to the country (Israel Invasion of Lebanon, p. 334).
On September 20, 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced that the United
States, France, and Italy had agreed to send a multinational force “to assist the Gov-
ernment of Lebanon in reasserting authority over all its territory.” Acknowledging the
LEBANON AND SYRIA 339