8
Friday, December 21, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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OBSERVATIONS
BY VICTOR M. BIENSTOCK
Special to The Jewish News
An outstanding spokesman for
Israel and a major figure in the
formulation of Jordanian policy
agree in an unusual encounter
that efforts to resolve the Palesti-
nian Arab problem must be re-
sumed without further delay.
That, however, is virtually the
only point of agreement between
Abba Eban, former Israeli
Foreign Minister and currently
chairman of the powerful Knesset
Committee on Foreign Affairs
and Defense, and Crown Prince
Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, chief
policy adviser to King Hussein.
The encounter is in the pages of
Foreign Policy, the quarterly pub-
lished by the Carnegie Endow-
ment for International Peace. The
leading article of the winter issue
is Eban's call for an active Ameri-
can initiative in securing a speedy
resumption of the peace process. It
is followed by Talal's exposition of
what must be considered the offi-
cial Jordanian position.
A major point of difference be-
comes immediately evident on the
peacemaking process. Eban, who
deplores the fact that "for more
than three years there has not
been even a symbolic pretense
that a peace process is in force,"
insists that "there is no alterna-
tive to the United States as an
agent of reconciliation in this
region." He calls on the Reagan
Administration to act im-
mediately when there is "a good
prospect of success" which he be-
lieves exists today.
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Talal, on the other hand, rules
out the United States as a
mediator, charging that consis-
tent American support of Israel's
West Bank settlement policy "has
undermined the peace process."
There must be a "comprehensive
settlement" of the Arab-Israeli
conflict, he asserts, insisting,
however, that "Arab reliance on
the United States as the sole
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' 41
J..
Fear of Islamic fundamen-
talist terrorism is a powerful
element in the thinking of
Arab rulers on the question of
an Arab-Israeli peace settle-
ment, Crown Prince Hassan
bin Talal of Jordan reveals in
his Foreign Policy article.
"A major concern," he says,
"is that the current (Arab-
Israeli) deadlock may degen-
erate into a primitive war be-
tween extremist ideological
groups that already threaten
to destroy the social fabric of
our societies. The lessons of
Lebanon and Iraq must be
heeded.
"Nor is the Israel political
system immune to the poli-
tics of fanaticism. On the con-
trary, the indications are that
Israel is terribly vulnerable
to this danger.
"The gloomy prospect that
stares Middle East states in
the face is that we may be
plunged into an interminable
internecine war that will
spare no one."
mediator has not induced the de-
sired result."
In the prevailing impasse, he
argues for return to "the original
machinery of negotiations that
began at the Geneva Middle East
peace conference chaired jointly
by the United States and the
Soviet Union. Then President
Richard Nixon was led to the con-
viction that permanent peace in
the Middle East could not be ob-
tained without the cooperation of
the two superpowers."
(Nixon told the Wall Street
Journal in November that he had
advised President Reagan to talk
with the Kremlin on the Middle
East issue, asserting his belief
that "the Russians should play a
role" in the area.)
The general consensus in
Europe, the Third World and the
Arab states, as well as the Pales-
tine Liberation Organization,
Talal claims, "is in favor of the
idea.
"A new Geneva-style confer-
ence to discuss the resolution of
the Arab-Israeli conflict under
United Nations auspices would
provide an umbrella to offset Is-
rael's current dominance in the
region," according to Talal. "This
is particularly important because
the role of impartial mediator as-
sumed by the United States to the
exclusion of all others is difficult,
if not impossible, to sustain.
Moreover," he adds, "the partici-
pation of all the parties directly
involved in the dispute is the only
certain way of ensuring a just and
lasting settlement."
For his part, Eban flatly rejects
this idea of a Geneva conference
under United Nations auspices.
The Soviet Union, he points out,
has disqualified itself by its "bla-
tant anti-Israeli bias." Western
Europe is "too vulnerable to Arab
economic pressure to play a bal-
anced role in its own right." And
as for the United Nations, the
Arab-Moslem-Communist groups
command its voting system "so no
decisions that are respectful of Is-
raeli interests can be expected
from international agencies."
That situation, he stresses,
"leaves the United States alone in
the field as the catalyzing agent
capable of guiding a negotiation."
American passivity, con-
sequently, "would condemn the
Middle East to a volcanic status
quo leading to a possible explo-
sion."
Talal, who seeks the maximum
anti-Israel support that he be-
lieves a Geneva-type conference
would provide, denigrates the
American role and capacity to
function as a mediator. Arab re-
liance on the United States as the
sole mediator in the past, he as-
serts, "has not induced the desired
result." Further, he charges, "the
conduct of U.S. foreign policy,
coupled with the result of the re-
cent Israeli general elections, is
not conducive to an accommoda-
tion in international or regional
conflicts."
In reviewing the failure of the
peace process in recent years,
Eban is sharply critical of former
Prime Minister Menachem Begin.