46 Friday, December 30, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS U.S. Hoping Arafat's Defeat Will Make Him a Dove By DAVID FRIEDMAN WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Reagan Administra- tion appears to be pinning its hopes for reviving President Reagan's moribund Middle East peace initiative on the slim expectation that Yasir Arafat has been so chas- tened by his defeat in Leba- non that he is ready to give his blessings to the entry of King Hussein of Jordan into the peace talks. It was this possibility that was given by at least one senior State Department of- ficial as one of the reasons for U.S. support of the un- hampered departure of Arafat and some 4,000 of his Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists from Tripoli last week de- spite Israel's strong protest that it was disgraceful that the PLO was leaving under the aegis of the United Na- tions flag. This hope was also seen in the declaration by the State Department that the meet- ing in Cairo last week be- tween Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was an "encouraging de- velopment." The meeting shocked the Israelis who said it Proposal to Freeze Settlements to Save Money Touches Off Israel Political Battle JERUSALEM (JTA) — A reported proposal by Fi- nance Minister Yigal Cohen-Orgad to freeze Jewish settlements on the West Bank, strictly for eco- nomic reasons, has touched off a fierce political row that could shake and possibly destroy the Likud-led coali- tion government. Cohen-Orgad did not deny the report, though he told furious settlers leaders that they were inaccurate. The ultranationalist Tehiya Party threatened im- mediately to quit the coali- tion if there was a partial or total freeze on new settle- ments in the territory. Cohen-Orgad is himself a hawk on the settlements issue and is building his house calls a thing of the past?? t 141 1r *P own home in the Samaria district, but Israel's dire economic situation de- mands major budget cuts. The treasury announced that the finance minister will present "outline pro- posals" on the budget when the Cabinet meets in special session today to discuss the economy. Informed sources said the report of a possible economic freeze on set- tlement building was in- tended to shock the Cabinet into cooperation with Cohen-Orgad in the matter of drastic budget cuts in all sectors of the economy. Galei Zahal, the army radio station, reported that Premier Yitzhak Shamir 111 II El OF COURSE NOT! Le t The Jewish News visit your home or that of a friend or relative each week. To: The Jewish News 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075 Please send a year's gift subscription to: NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE OCCASION: FROM: ❑ $18 enclosed IL ZIP summoned the finance minister to his office after the settlement freeze report was broadcast and urged him to stress that "no deci- sions have been made on the matter — only proposals." But the Council of Set- tlements of the Judea - Samaria - Gaza regions branded such proposals as "ideological and political suicide by the government." Council Chairman Yis- rael Harel said the Likud government "won its mandate on an unre- stricted settlement pro- gram and its good settle- ment record. A freeze would be fooling the pub- lic." Housing for Jewish settlers is heavily sub- sidized by the government in the territories and can be obtained much more cheaply than in Israel pro- per. The purpose is to induce as many Israeli families as possible to move to the ter- ritories, including those without any ideological commitment to settlements. Harel said that the settlers are prepared to consider some cuts, including lower living standards in existing and new settlements. However, he vowed that they would fight any kind of freeze. Settlement activists were out in force Wednes- day lobbying coalition Knesset members on the is- sue. But the tide of public opinion may be turning against the advocates of massive, unrestricted Jewish settlements. Ac- cording to a public opin- ion poll taken by the Pori institute and published in Haaretz Wednesday, "a turning point" has been reached on the issue. For the first time a majority of respondents, 48 percent — opposed new settle- ments against 36 percent who favored them. Pori canvassed 1,200 Israelis all over the country re- presenting a cross- section of the population. Haaretz noted that only a year ago, 48 percent of those polled favored more settle- ments and 35 percent were opposed, exactly the reverse of the latest poll results. Two years ago support for new settlements was over- whelming, with 53 percent in favor and under 30 per- cent opposed. According to the Pori In- stitute, opposition to new settlements was highest among the better educated and higher income sectors of the population. Meanwhile, the coalition is faced by protests from its various partners on other issues likely to be affected by budget cuts. The Na- tional Religious Party said it will not accept the aboli- tion of free high school edu- cation introduced six years ago under the stewardship of Education Minister Zevu- lun Hammer, an NRP leader. Tami, which claims to speak for large, low- income families, mainly in the Sephardic commu- nity, also denounced cuts in education. It opposes a levy on national health care and has taken the government to task for al- leged failure to distribute the tax burden more equitably. Tami has pro- posed higher taxes for the more affluent sectors of the population. The finance minister is expected to propose a series of specific budget cuts to- day. These would effect a major sewage scheme near Rishon Lezion; a major road-building project in Tel Aviv which is already under construction; plans for a new railroad line to carry phosphates from the Dead Sea to the Port of Eilat; and the controversial Mediterranean-Dead Sea Canal, a massive hydroelec- tric project. Political observers pre- dict that Cohen-Orgad will have a hard time pushing through his proposals, but he was one important factor on his side, they say. Likud and its coalition partners know that if Cohen-Orgad is forced to resign — he would be the third Likud finance minister to do so — the gov- ernment would surely col- lapse. --- contradicted the Camp David agreements. Am- bassador Meir Rosenne went to the State De- partment late last Thurs- day to express the Israeli view and called Mubarak's meetings with Arafat "encouragement to terrorism." But Reagan, in an inter- view with reporters, made it clear that he sees the meet- ing as perhaps leading to Arafat's endorsement of Hussein's participation in the peace talks on behalf of the Palestinians. The differences between the U.S. and Israel were seen by some to reveal the fragility of the new agree- ment for close strategic cooperation between the two countries and an- nounced during Premier Yitzhak Shamir's recent visit to Washington. But State Department spokesman John Hughes pointed out several times last week that it was not unusual for close friends and allies to disagree. Shamir made the same point during his speech to the National Press Club here. _ But not mentioned was that the U.S. disagree- ment with Israel over Arafat's departure from Tripoli and then his meet- ing with Mubarak helped the U.S. in its effort to convince the Arabs that despite the new agree- ment with Israel the U.S. also sought closer rela- tions with "moderate" Arab states. - Meanwhile, it is still un- clear what last week's meet- ing in Cairo meant. For Arafat, with a large part of the PLO coming under the domination of Syria, it was logical to seek support from Egypt, the most important Arab state. At this stage Arafat is also obviously willing to meet with any Arab leader who will re- ceive him in an attempt to bolster his sinking prestige. However, even some of his most loyal supporters in the PLO were outraged by the meeting; The PLO, along with the other mem- bers of the Arab League, broke relations with Egypt six years ago after the sign- ing of the Camp David ac- cords. The revolt against Arafat by PLO groups in Lebanon is directed against him giving the Jordanian monarch approval to repre- sent the Palestinians in the negotiations with Israel, Egypt and the U.S. Mubarak's motives are more worrisome. Israel is already concerned about "Serving the Jewish community with traditional dignity and understanding" what it calls the cold peace with Egypt and it has ear- lier expressed the fear that Mubarak is seeking to move back toward the rejectionist Arab camp. At the same time, the Egyptians have always urged that the PLO be in- cluded in the negotia- tions. Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamal Hassan Ali, during his visit to Washington last week, said that Arafat con- tinues to the most popu- lar Palestinian leader. When Reagan was asked if he agreed with this assessment, he replied, "Well this is what we need to find out. I can't believe the radical group under the influence of the Syrians — I can't believe that the mil- lions of Palestinians are going to choose that leader- ship." The State Department made clear last week that the U.S. still sticks to its position that it will not deal with the PLO until it recog- nizes Israel's right to exist and accepts United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 and 333. But it was ob- viously signalling to Arafat that the time was ripe for him to do so. The State Department also made clear that it knows Israel will never sit down with members of the PLO. Under the Reagan in- itiative, Jordan is urged to join the peace talks with Palestinians in its delega- tion, especially from the West Bank and Gaza, who are not members of the PLO. Hussein has main- tained he first needs the approval of the PLO and of Arab states. But if Arafat could not give his approval last April when he was still the undisputed leader of the terrorist group, can he do it now when he has all he can do to stay in control of the few loyalists left? It seems to many that the hope in Washington for Arafat's metamorphosis from a terrorist to a respon- sible leader is based more on wishful thinking and self- delusion in Washington than on reality in the Mid- dle East. The Family of the Late BENJAMIN B. MILLER Acknowledges with grateful appreciation of the many kind ex- pressions of sympathy extended by relatives and friends during the family's recent be- reavement. 543.1622 HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL 26640 GREENFIELD ROAD OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237 SERVING ALL CEMETERIES Alan H. Dorfman Funeral Director & Mgr.