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As might have been expected, the Israeli response vastly exceeded the provocation. While 34 Israelis died in the terrorist raid, many more would surely be killed during the Israeli foray into Lebanon. Indeed, by any accounting of their 30 years of eye-for-an-eye retaliation, the Israelis are far ahead of the Palestinians. Though terrorists have taken 143 Israeli lives since the 1973 war, Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed some 2,000 Arabs.
The Israeli drive into Lebanon was not merely a powerful gesture of revenge. It was a calculated maneuver to strengthen Israeli security in the north, and the P.L.O. raid only gave Israel the excuse it needed to move decisively. As one Western diplomat analyzed it, the Tel Aviv incident was "just what the Israelis had been waiting for, because they have been wanting to take over south Lebanon for a long time." Last week the Israelis proceeded to do just that as they established a buffer strip along the entire border. That leaves the Palestinians precious little breathing room between the Israeli zone and the Litani River, with the Syrian forces on the north bank, and it is by no means clear that the Israelis will not make occasional raids into what remains of the Palestinians' sanctuary.
Once the fighting is over, the Israelis would probably withdraw some combat troops but leave a large enough force to secure the buffer zone in an effort to reduce the number of terrorist raids from the north. Later, they would probably be prepared to give way to Christian Lebanese soldiers (who oppose the Palestinians), or to U.N. peacekeeping forces, or to a combination of the two. But actually, the Israelis have declared de facto control over a strip of southern Lebanon, and it looks as if they intend to retain some kind of presence. As an Egyptian foreign ministry official saw it: "The Israelis probably will withdraw from south Lebanon under certain conditions, but they are establishing their right to return whenever they like. In almost colonial terms, Israel is creating a protectorate over south Lebanon."