Word: christian
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Syria's Assad believes the security of his own country is tied directly to that of Lebanon. If the Christian forces upset the balance of power in the country, and successfully turned half of Lebanon into an Israeli-backed ministate, Israel's forces would be that much closer to Syria by land and sea. For its part, Israel fears that a Syrian-dominated Lebanon, with leftist Muslims in control, would turn the country into another confrontation state...
...shattering windows and creating panic. The overflight was clearly intended as a warning to the Syrians by the Israelis, who also strengthened their positions along the Golan Heights and their border with Lebanon. Declared Major General Shlomo Gazit, chief of Israeli military intelligence: "Israel will not watch peacefully the Christian massacre in Beirut." In response, the Syrian air force went on alert, and Damascus rushed armored units of its own to the Golan Heights, where its usual three divisions had been pared to one because of peacekeeping responsibilities in Lebanon...
With events rapidly careening out of control, President Sarkis, a Christian, announced that he could no longer exert the authority bestowed on him by the constitution and would resign. The announcement shocked Lebanon; the squabbling Christian leaders, as well as many Muslim spokesmen, urged Sarkis to reconsider...
...week's end Assad called Sarkis and promised him that he was ready to accept Sarkis' conditions. There was no immediate response from the Christian factions, but Sarkis reluctantly stayed on for the time being at least...
...over alleged tax evasion and financial improprieties. Pertini's Socialist Party, the country's third largest, had aggressively sought the presidency from the start, as a sign that it was not about to be submerged by the growing accord of Italy's two dominant parties, the Christian Democrats and Communists...