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Koppel On Mideast:
No Sign Of Hope
WOLF BLITZER
'11..11.1111
Special to The Jewish News
W
ashington Ted
Koppel, anchorman
of ABC's
"Nightline," says the strength
of the program's recent week-
long series in Israel, was that
it pointed out to American
audiences the complexity and
difficulty of the Palestinian-
Israeli conflict.
"I was pleased with our
series of programs only
because I think they il-
lustrated that this is really a
problem that doesn't lend
itself to easy solutions," he
said in an interview.
"Sometimes, I think, certain-
ly segments of the American
public who don't follow this
story very closely have this
notion that all it takes is a
Ted Koppel:
Pointing to complexities.
well-meaning American
diplomat to spend two or
three weeks out there and it
could be resolved rather like
a labor negotiation."
Koppel, an experienced
diplomatic correspondent
who covered the State Depart-
ment during Henry Kiss-
inger's tenure in the 1970s,
pulled off a remarkable jour-
nalistic feat on American
television with his series from
Jerusalem. Widely regarded
as the best interviewer on
American television, his
shows reached a relatively
large late-night audience.
"I think if anything came
out of the week's worth of pro-
grams," he said, "it was the
sense of the depth of frustra-
tion and animosity. It high-
lighted some of the Catch-22s
that exist in trying to bring
about solutions, particularly
in the differences between the
Palestinians and the Israelis.
Neither one is prepared to
make the initial concession
that would permit them to sit
down and begin negotiating.
And when you face that kind
of obstinacy on both sides —
and it's an obstinacy that
each side feels is fully
justified — then you don't
come away with a great deal
of optimism."
Visiting Israel after an
absence of several years did
recall rather starkly for Kop-
pel the depth of the problem.
"I think what being in
Jerusalem perhaps reinforced
for me, and it had faded
because I hadn't been there
for a long time, was that
you're really dealing with
leaders on both sides who see
things in a context of not a
few months, not a few years,
not even a few generations —
but who look at the problem,
quite literally, in terms of
millennia. And each of whom
is prepared to dismiss almost
out of hand the legitimacy of
the claims of the other side.
And that makes viewing it
from an American perspec-
tive very misleading. I think
we do the story an injustice
when we look at it through
American eyes."
He stressed the importance
of historical context in view-
ing the Mideast conflict.
When one deals with "events
of four or five months — as
much of an impact as they
may seem to be having on
American public opinion —
those events are viewed
through an entirely different
prism by a man like [Prime
Minister Yitzhak] Shamir
who tends to view things in
biblical terms."
Koppel is convinced that
the struggle between Israelis
and Palestinians will con-
tinue. "I tend to view these
things from a somewhat
historical perspective," he
said. "My belief is that par-
ties to a dispute don't come to
a conclusion — don't even
begin to move toward a con-
clusion — until the pain of
status quo is greater than the
perceived pain of trying to
change long-held positions.
And quite frankly, as I look at
events in Israel and the oc-
cupied territories today, I
don't think that either side
yet feels that the pain of the
status quo is that great.
"Now the day may come
and when it does and I hope
that American diplomacy can
help. But I think at the mo-
ment, it's rather pointless."
Koppel maintained that he
never sought to advance the
diplomatic peace process dur-
ing his week-long broadcasts.
"That was never my inten-
tion," he said.
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