Cabinet of Amin Hafez
The cabinet led by Prime Minister Amin Hafez was one of the short-lived cabinets of Lebanon. It was inaugurated on 25 April 1973, succeeding the cabinet led by Saeb Salam who resigned on 10 April 1973. The tenure of the Hafez cabinet ended on 18 June 1973 following the Parliament's motion of no confidence.
Overview
Prime Minister Saeb Salam and his cabinet resigned on 10 April 1973 when the Mossad agents attacked the headquarters of Palestinians in Beirut and killed three Palestinians who were leading members of the Fatah. Upon this incident due to pressures from the Sunni community Salam requested the dismissal of the commander of the Lebanese army, Iskandar Ghanem, which was not accepted by the President Suleiman Frangieh. Because Ghanem was a close ally of Frangieh and a Maronite.Frangieh first asked Rashid Karami and then Abdallah Yafi to establish a new cabinet, but both declined his proposal. Then he asked Amin Hafez to form the cabinet, and he was given the task on 18 April 1973. Hafez was an academic and did not hold any cabinet post, but had been a member of the Lebanese Parliament since 1960 representing Tripoli. At the Parliament he was part of the group headed by Rashid Karami. Hafez had good relations with other political leaders such as Kamal Jumblatt, Kamel Asaad and the outgoing Prime Minister Saeb Salem who supported his appointment. In fact, it was Kamal Jumblatt who proposed his premiership to Suleiman Frangieh. However, just before the announcement of the cabinet members the violence between the Lebanese army and the Palestine Liberation Army intensified due to the Israeli attack mentioned above. Because of these tensions the leading supporters of Hafez demanded his resignation to reduce the capacity of President Frangieh to attack against Palestinians. Hafez did not approve their request stating that as a prime minister he could diminish these attacks.