Robert S. Rifkind, who played a pivotal role in successfully defending Time magazine against a $50 million libel suit filed by Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli general, defense minister and, later, prime minister, died on March 12 at his home in Manhattan. He was 88.

Mr. Sharon’s suit was prompted by a single paragraph in the Feb. 21, 1983 issue of Time. It referred to an Israeli government report on the massacre months earlier by Christian Phalange militiamen of at least 800 and as many as 3,500 civilian refugees in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. The massacre happened after Israel invaded Lebanon and the Phalange leader was assassinated. The article suggested that Mr. Sharon had sought revenge and that the Israelis looked the other way when the Phalangists attacked.

The jury found in 1985 that Time had misrepresented Mr. Sharon’s role in the massacre, but concluded that the magazine’s reporting did not meet the legal threshold for libel because it did not publish the article with actual malice or a reckless disregard for the facts.