MIDDLE EAST: The Unpacified South

Israel's most secure border—the one facing Lebanon—has unexpectedly become its most volatile. While the rest of civil-war-torn Lebanon was quiet last week, intermittent mortar fire continued in the south between the Moslem town of Bint Jebail and the Christian settlement of Ain Ebel. Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, insisted that his forces were free to regroup in that area (see following story). Israel so opposes this, as well as the idea of having Syrian soldiers on a second Israeli border—even as Arab peace keepers—that the Jerusalem government convened its "war cabinet," deployed armor on the boundary, and threatened to invade...