World Notes Israel

Former Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and the retiring U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Samuel Lewis, are known to harbor a deep animosity for each other. But until now Lewis has avoided public criticism of Sharon, currently Minister of Industry and Trade in Israel's coalition government. As he prepared to leave for home last week after eight years as ambassador, Lewis recalled for Israeli television a December 1981 meeting between Sharon and Philip Habib, then the U.S. special envoy in the Middle East. The session was held six months before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Sharon, said Lewis, outlined plans for invading Lebanon and taking Beirut, leaving Habib and other Americans present "rather dumbfounded." According to Lewis, Habib told Sharon that the idea "was an unthinkable proposition as far as the U.S. Government was concerned."

Sharon angrily labeled the ambassador's account "a gross lie." Speaking on Israeli television, he described Lewis as "a cornerstone of the American failure in Lebanon and the Middle East" because his reports, as well as those of other U.S. officials, "misled the (U.S.) President." Sharon characterized his meeting with Habib as "part of my efforts to prevent war." Ambassador Lewis, whose account was backed by the State Department, was later asked why he had raised the issue at this time. Said he: "I was asked the question, and I don't dodge questions."