Bachir Gemayel - Israeli Invasion of Lebanon and Bachir's Election

Israeli Invasion of Lebanon and Bachir's Election

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. Defense Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, met with Bachir months earlier, telling him that the Israeli Defense Force were planning an invasion to uproot the PLO threat to Israel and to move them out of Lebanon. While Bachir did not control Israel’s actions in Lebanon, the support Israel gave the Lebanese Forces, militarily and politically, angered many Lebanese Muslims and leftists.

Bachir met with Hani Al Hassan (representative of the PLO) and told him that Israel would enter and wipe them out. Bachir told him to leave Lebanon peacefully before it was too late. Hani left and no reply was given to Bachir.

Israel invaded and the PLO were expelled from Lebanon in August 1982. During the invasion, the Israelis wanted the Lebanese Forces to assist the Israeli Army militarily by fighting the Palestinians and Muslims in West Beirut; however, Bachir refused that because he said that his forces would not assist an invading army. By now, Bachir had announced his candidacy for president. He was backed by the United States, who sent peacekeeping troops to oversee the withdrawal of the PLO from Lebanon. Bachir had requested that they stay longer to keep Lebanon stable until he could reunite it, but his request was denied. On 23 August 1982, being the only one to declare his bid, Bachir was elected president.

On 1 September 1982, two weeks before his assassination and only one week after his election, Bachir met the Israeli Prime minister Menachem Begin in Nahariya. During the meeting, Begin demanded that Bachir sign a peace treaty with Israel as soon as he took office in return of Israel's earlier support of Lebanese Forces and he also told Bachir that the IDF will stay in South Lebanon if the Peace Treaty wasn't signed. Bachir was furious at Begin and told him that the Lebanese Forces didn't fight for seven years and that they didn't sacrifice thousands of soldiers to free Lebanon from the Syrian Army and the PLO so that Israel can take their place. Bachir also added that he will not sign the Peace Treaty without national consensus on the matter. The meeting ended in rage and both sides weren't happy with each other.

Begin was reportedly angry at Bachir for his public denial of Israel's support. Bachir refused signing a peace treaty arguing that time is needed to reach consensus with Lebanese Muslims and the Arab nations. This angered the Israelis because they knew that it is almost impossible for the Lebanese Muslims to agree on a Peace Treaty. They realized that Bachir was starting to distance himself from them.

On 12 September 1982, in an attempt to fix the relations between Begin and Bachir, Ariel Sharon had a secret meeting with Bachir in Bikfaya. During the meeting, Bachir told Sharon that the Lebanese Army would soon enter into the Palestinian Camps to disarm any remaining fighters. They also agreed that the Lebanese Army would attack the Syrian Army's positions in Lebanon assisted by the Israeli Army. In addition, Sharon tried to convince Bachir about signing a Peace Treaty, but Bachir did not change his position on this matter.

Bachir had planned to use the IDF to push the Syrian Army out of Lebanon and then use his relations with the Americans to pressure the Israelis into withdrawing from Lebanese territory. By taking this move, Bachir crossed all international red lines about Lebanon and this was believed to be the main reason for his assassination. He tried to force a solution for the Lebanese War at the expense of Israel, Syria, and part of the American administration (Henry Kissinger and Alexander Heig)