Israel Threat to an Uneasy Peace

A shaky coalition closes ranks over a captured pilot

Even as Israel's quarrelsome leaders worked out the details of an unprecedented agreement that brings Yitzhak Shamir to power as Prime Minister this week, the country was suddenly caught up in a looming military crisis. After Israeli air and naval forces attacked Palestinian positions near the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon in retaliation for a terrorist attack near Jerusalem's Western Wall, an Israeli pilot was captured by the Shi'ite Amal militia. At week's end, as Israeli troop strength was beefed up on the Lebanese border, the fragile national unity government in Jerusalem hastily closed ranks and angrily demanded the captive flyer's...

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