THE DEIROVEWISH NEWS
Friday, August; 14, ;1981 21
Pressuring Israel Will Not lead to Middle East Peace
By VICTOR BIENSTOCK
One of the paradoxes in
the Middle East situation
today is that Israel finds its
most dependable friends in
this country not among the
liberals but among the
diehard conservatives
among whom, incidentally,
it also finds adamant foes.
There was hardly a "lib-
eral" voice raised in defense
of Israel after Prime Minis-
ter Menahem Begin sent
the Israeli Air Force on a
bombing mission over Be-
irut which cost the lives of
some 300 civilians. The
chorus of condemnation in
press was almost
nimous; supportive
vi ces were heard but
faintly. Polls showed a
dangerous erosion of public
support for Israel.
Washington correspon-
dent Tom Braden, outraged
that Begin had acted with-
out prior consultation of
Washington, insisted in his
syndicated column that "the
way to handle a national
leader (Begin) who insists
on a dangerous course of ac-
tion is to confront him di-
rectly and forcefully. We
ought to do this now." We
should, said Braden, tell
Begin that "all arms ship-
ments to Israel will cease
until such time as he sits
down with President Re-
agan and President Sadat
and enters into realistic dis-
cussions of the Palestinian
autonomy which he
promised at Camp David."
Mr. Begin, he added,
"needs a sharp rebuke."
Pat Buchanan, a far-
right veteran of the Nixon
White House and -now a
syndicated columnist
who has consistently
given Israel strong sup-
port, said in a column fol-
lowing the Beirut raid
that "it is incumbent that
Americans appreciate
the security problems
and the domestic politi-
cal situation confronted
by our Israeli friends in
whose frontier towns
regular funeral services
are conducted for victims
of PLO terror."
But, he added, "Menahem
Begin must awaken to
reality that American pub-
lic opinion is turning shar-
ply, angrily, against Israel,
that Israel's support in offi-
cial and unofficial Wash-
ington is disintegrating."
And most serious, he added,
the Israeli actions have
"placed the one indispensa-
ble ally and friend they
have in the world, Ronald
Reagan, in an impossible
situation."
And then Buchanan
warned: "To any who have
heard Ronald Reagan on the
bject, his support of Israel
grounded in emotion as
well as logic. He sees Israel
not only as a 'strategic asset'
but an exemplar of democ-
racy, courage and heroism
in the West. But it is neither
in Mr. Reagan's self-
interest nor in his character
to accept the role of patsy
and pushover for Menahem
Begin."
The debate over the mili-
tary wisdom and morality of
"O
the Beirut air assault will conceived the Camp David
continue indefinitely; one process to be. The problem
can accept the Begin con- with the Camp David proc-
tention that its sole purpose ess is that our impatient
was to destory the Palestine policymakers want to leap-
Liberation Organization frog the difficult inter-
headquarters deliberately mediate steps to arrive at
placed in a civilian quarte'r the solution of the West
as a shield against air at- Bank situation which they
tacks, or the contention voi- believe to be the key to the
ced by Braden that the real overall solution, so vital to
objective probably was to the construction of a Middle
disrupt the efforts to resolve East anti-Soviet front.
the Israeli-Syrian crisis
Washington's failure to
conducted with Saudi Ara- understand this was bared
bian auspices because "Mr. again in the briefings on the
Begin does not want the eve of President Sadat's
United States to be friendly visit in the emphasis placed
with Saudi Arabia."
on the question of Jewish
Two things are certain: settlements on the West
the Beirut attack has Bank. President Reagan
alienated many friends of was quoted as considering
Israel here and abroad these settlements a "prob-
and renewed suspicion of lem" in the search for peace
Begin as an unreformed and reporters were re-
and unrepentant ter- minded. that Reagan had
rorist, and that the at- told some of their number
tempts to reach an Arab- shortly after he took office
Israel understanding will that he thought Israel's
be made vastly more dif-
rush" to build new settle-
ficult.
ments on the West Bank
A "settlement," in any might be "ill-advised" and
case, would not be much "unnecessarily provoca-
more than an armistice, tive."
whatever its terms, because
A highly-regarded corre-
most of the Arab leaders, in- spondent for a major news-
cluding the Saudi dynasty, paper chain went so far as to
have not reconciled them- describe the Israeli settle-
selves to the existence of a ments as "the chief barrier
Jewish state in Palestine to peace in the Middle
regardless of how much its East."
borders are compressed and
There are now about
even if it ceded control of the 20,000 Jewish settlers on
Old City of Jerusalem. This the West Bank out of a
is the fundamental problem population of more than
and sooner or later it will a million — certainly not
have to be addressed.
a number large enough to
endanger the Arabic
Most Americans, includ-
quality of the area. No Is-
ing many in high places in
raeli government, no
Washington, have ex-
self-respecting Jew, no
tremely naive views about
advocate of human rights
the Middle East and an
can accept the principle
alarming lack of informa-
that any political entity
tion about its history during
the past half-century. Most anywhere can deny a
of us do not realize that in person the right or resi-
dence on the grounds
pressing the West Bank is-
that he is a Jew.
sue, we are trying to turn
Saudi Arabia, which once
the clock back to the pre-
1967 era while at the same included a converted Ger-
man Jew in its United Na-
time we insist that the Is-
tions delegation, is probably
raelis do now what the
Arabs themselves refused to the only nation on earth _
do when they ruled the which by law and practice
bars Jews. A United States
territory for 19 years — to
create an autonomous re- government which sup-
ported a policy of excluding
gime giving self-
determination to the in- Jews would find itself in a
most embarrassing moral
habitants of the area.
and political dilemma.
Once the West Bank issue
Ultimately, I believe, Is-
is settled, according to
Washingto'n's script, every rael will have to accept the
idea of a Palestine Arab
other problem in the Middle
East *ill eventually fall entity on the West Bank,
into place. They won't be- not necessarily because of
the moral obligation to
cause the creation of an au-
tonomous Palestine Arab recognize the rights of
entity will not remove the others (although I would
major Arab grievance
which is the presence of a CAJE to Hold
Jewish state in the heart of
Ohio Conference
the Moslem world.
Establishment of a
NEW YORK — The sixth
state on the West Bank Conference on Alternatives
won't satisfy the PLO; in Jewish Education is
that organization is ap- scheduled for Aug. 21-27 at
parently prepared to ac- Oberlin College in Oberlin,
cept it only as a first step Ohio. More than 1,000 par-
and a base from which to ticipants are expected. •
secure the "liberation" of
This year's conference
all of Palestine.
will consist of three major
President Mitterrand of segments: a pre-conference
France, in cautioning his "mini-conference" for
partners in the European educators with specialized
Community against trying interests; the Shabat pro-
to solve the Middle East di- gram; and the actual five-
lemma in one grand effort, day conference, which will
stressed the need for a offer more than 300 sessions
step-by-step approach as he on a wide variety of topics.
((
hope that would be the de-
termining factor) but for the
stark demographic fact that
the Jewish state cannot ab-
sorb another million- Arabs
and remain a Jewish state.
Within the lifetime of our
children, the Jews would
become a numerical minor-
ity in their own country.
To try to retain the West
Bank as a sort of colonial
appendage with the Arabs
having some form of
second-class citizenship is
as untenable a concept and
as morally repugnant and
as certain of failure as apar-
theid in South Africa.
If President Reagan
and his aides really want
to pacify the Middle East,
their first step should be
the common sense mea-
sure of using whatever
powers they can muster
to require the with-
drawal of the PLO in the
Lebanon to some line
from which their artillery
and missiles cannot
reach Israeli territory.
Then Israeli land, sea and
air forays to extirpate the
terrorist nests would no
longer be necessary and
settlement talks could
proceed in an atmos-
COMPUTER
PORTRAITS
phere of calm.
Our Middle East experts
will have to recognize that
the Palestine solution and
the solution for Lebanon are
closely intertwined and that
as long as the PLO remains
an uncontrolled military
force in Lebanon within
striking distance of Israel
there can be no peace in
Palestine and no peace in
Lebanon. That, not Jewish
settlements on the West
Bank, is the first problem.
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