Washington Report, November 5, 1984, Page 8

Facts For Your Files: A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

October 15:

The Reagan Administration disputed a claim by the Israeli government that the U.S. had agreed to postpone until March Israel's debt service payment of $500 million, due later this year. State Department spokesman John Hughes said: "No decision has been taken about what moves (to help Israel) would be the most desirable or, indeed, about whether they would be needed." Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres told his cabinet on October 15 that the debt deferment offer had been made by the Reagan Administration during his recent visit to Washington and that be had accepted it, according to several Israeli officials.

October 15:

State Department spokesman John Hughes confirmed that the U.S. currently is not negotiating an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon because, he said, the partners involved are still "quite far apart." Both Israel and Lebanon have asked the U.S. to play a negotiating role.

October 16:

At the end of a two-day visit to Israel, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger announced that the U.S. will grant Israel access to advanced American technology which he described as "essential" to Israel's production of its Lavi jet fighter. Mr. Weinberger also said that the Reagan Administration would consider Israel's request to purchase three diesel submarines from the U.S., and its request to sell the U.S. army 120-millimeter mortars that are manufactured in Israel. However, Mr. Weinberger rejected an additional Israeli request to increase the amount of money which U.S. companies doing business in Israel must themselves spend there. The Defense Secretary extended this "off-set" policy at the current rate of 15 percent and not at 20 percent, as the Israelis had asked.

October 16:

The State Department again denied that the U.S. had made a formal offer to postpone Israel's debt repayment—as claimed by Israeli officials—but indicated that Israel could, if it wished, be delinquent on the repayment with no penalty other than additional interest charges. Spokesman Alan Romberg said: "I am not sure it is a question of the United States making an offer... there can be late payments, if that is viewed as necessary," and that Israel did not need prior U.S. approval.

October 19:

It was announced at the State Department that some five or six dependents of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Beirut had been evacuated in recent days to an undisclosed location, following new threats that an attack against U.S. targets was imminent.

October 20:

Jon Stewart, a spokesman for the United States embassy in Lebanon, confirmed that a decision had been made by the U.S. to reduce the number of American embassy personnel in Lebanon as a precaution against new terrorist attacks. Approximately 45 American officials are said to be in the country. Their freedom of movement has been strictly curtailed as a result of the new threats.

October 24:

State Department spokesman John Hughes warned private American citizens in Lebanon that their safety is in danger. He said there was "new information concerning threats across the board to Americans," including members of the press.

October 25:

Secretary of State George Shultz said that the U.S. "must be willing to use military force" to combat international terrorism, and that the American public must understand "there is potential for loss of life of some of our fighting men, and the loss of life of some innocent people." Mr. Shultz added: "We may never have the kind of evidence that can stand up in an American court of law. But we cannot allow ourselves to become the Hamlet of nations, worrying endlessly over whether and how to respond."

October 30:

Press reports quoted U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis as saying of President Reagan's September 1, 1982, Mideast peace plan that "the timing was abysmal, the presentation even worse and the results none." The State Department subsequently issued a statement saying that press reports of Mr. Lewis's speech were incomplete and that he "was not criticizing the substance" of the Reagan plan.