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The next day Begin said that U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar would not be welcome to visit Jerusalem if he went through with a plan to meet with P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat. Still later in the week, when the Security Council debated a resolution to condemn Israel for defying previous U.N. demands on Lebanon, Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum got into an angry argument with Soviet Ambassador Richard Ovinnikov. The Soviet diplomat told the council that his government favored "severe action" against Israel because it was "imperative that Beirut not join the list of cities such as Warsaw and Coventry that were destroyed by Hitler's Fascist troops." In a fury, Blum lashed out at Ovinnikov, terming his statement "obscene" and taunting him for the Soviet Union's use of "humanitarian tanks" in subjugating the peoples of Afghanistan, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
To the Israelis, it seemed that their tough policy in Lebanon had been altogether effective. Soon after the Sunday attack, they noted, the P.L.O. made two important concessions. First, the leaders dropped their demand that an international force be in place in West Beirut be fore their organization moved out. The P.L.O. does not want to depart through a cordon of Israeli forces. Said one U.S. expert: "If the choice is between martyrdom and walking out through Israeli lines they [the P.L.O.] will stay and fight." Second, the guerrillas said they would no longer insist that Israel complete a minimal withdrawal of its own forces before the evacuation begins.
On Thursday, the P.L.O. forwarded a new set of proposals, including a timetable for leaving Beirut, to Lebanese Prime Minister Chafik Wazzan. Despite the effects of the Israeli bombardment, Wazzan managed to deliver the proposals to Habib, who in turn passed them on to Jerusalem. The working plan reportedly involved a 14-day period for the withdrawal. On the first day, the 6,000 guerrillas in West Beirut would pull back to refugee camps and be replaced by an international peace-keeping force, including troops from the U.S. and other countries. In the next three days, Palestinians bound for Jordan and Iraq would travel by bus or truck to the Bekaa Valley. From there they would proceed by road to Amman or by air to Baghdad. After that, the Palestinians heading for Egypt and perhaps other Arab countries would depart by air or sea. During the second week, the last of the guerrillas in West Beirut would leave by road for Damascus. The P.L.O. leaders would stay until the end to oversee the withdrawal. An alternate plan calls for the first group of Palestinians to be evacuated from Beirut aboard a French ship to the Egyptian port of Alexandria and the Jordanian port of Aqaba.