Israel, the United States and Lebanon

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the November 14, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As Israel continues defending itself against the Hezbollah threat emanating from Lebanon and the United States explores ways to help defuse the conflict, I cannot help but think of another time — 41 years ago — when these three countries were linked in conjunction with an incident that became ingrained in the psyches of many Americans.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our issue from the week of Oct. 27–Nov. 2, 1983, when a story by Wolf Blitzer titled “U.S. refuses Israeli aid for Marines” appeared on the front page.

In the aftermath of the deadly bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, in which a suicide bomber killed 241 U.S. servicemembers at the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, the Israeli government offered the U.S. access to Israeli hospitals in relative proximity to the attack in order to help treat those wounded in the terrorist attack. According to Blitzer’s article, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens was “extremely disappointed” that the Reagan administration rebuffed Israel’s offer, choosing instead to fly the wounded servicemembers to medical facilities in West Germany and Italy, which were much farther away from the Israeli hospitals.

The article noted that Israel also offered the U.S. “sophisticated bulldozer and engineering equipment to help remove the rubble,” yet that offer was similarly rejected. The U.S. did accept “plastic bag covers for the bodies of the Marines” from Israel, according to the article.

Blitzer offered some context for the reasons behind the United States’ rejection of Israel’s offer of assistance.

“U.S. officials suggested that Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and some others were still extremely sensitive to any military or strategic relationship with Israel that was publicly seen as too close. Such steps, he is said to fear, would upset America’s friends in the Arab world.”

Officially, the White House said, “the U.S. deeply appreciated the Israeli offers for assistance but found they were not really necessary,” noting that “The Pentagon’s contingency procedures for the removal of the injured soldiers worked well.”

The article went on to quote President Ronald Reagan, who said the deadly attack was “a horrifying reminder of the type of enemy we face in many critical areas of the world today — vicious, cowardly and ruthless.”

Fast-forward to today’s post-Oct. 7 world, in which Hezbollah’s constant bombardment of northern Israel has led to the displacement of Israelis from their homes and forced Israel to undertake a military operation in Lebanon in an effort to neutralize Hezbollah’s relentless attacks. The U.S. is playing a central role in seeking an end to the current conflict, and it regularly meets with Israeli and Lebanese officials in pursuit of a peace agreement.