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FREE L_ • Continued from Page 1 Beautify your home for the holidays with an oriental rug from Azar's IN.hOME CONSUI.TATION , 313°661°3660-- 18 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1988 251 Merrill Birmingham (313) 644-7311 2915 Breton Grand Rapids (1.800-622-RUGS) creasing the damage to its trading relations with the European Community. There will be other conse- quences, too, of Arafat's statements in Geneva and the consequent United States decision to abandon its 13-year-old policy of rejecting direct, open contacts with the PLO. One of the most significant will be an exacerbation of the already-polarized opinion both within Israel and within the wider Jewish world. The most immediate threat hangs over Israel's Labor Par- ty, which is deeply divided over whether or not to seize the moment and agree to talk to the PLO. After the events of last week, it appears to be facing a no-win situation. As Labor Party leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin — who reject talks with the PLO — enter a new na- tional unity coalition with the Likud Party of Yitzhak Shamir, they could well find themselves unable to stop a hemmorhage to the more radical Citizen's Rights Move- ment and, to a lesser extent, to the left-wing Mapam Par- ty. If, on the other hand, the Labor leaders submit to the powerful voices in their par- ty and agree to talk to the PLO — under whatever cir- cumstances — they might re- tain the cohesion of their movement, but they will pro- pel themselves into the political wilderness and render their party unelec- table for the foreseeable future. Equally damaging, the U.S. decision could produce a severe strain on relations be- tween Israel and its Jewish supporters in the United States, who are still bewil- dered and disoriented by the intensity of both the Pales- tinian uprising and the Israeli response. American Jewish leaders will face the agonizing dilem- ma of whether to challenge the U.S administration and support the official Israeli position, right or wrong, or support their own govern- ment, with all the risks in- herent in either stance. Ronald Reagan's tenure in the White House has produc- ed a sustained period of relative unanimity between Israel and its superpower patron, but it is the hand of incoming President George Bush that is being widely detected in last week's decision. If the decision does indeed represent the shape of things to come, it could be the curtain-raiser for a major diplomatic showdown be- tween Washington and Jeru- salem. This is, in fact, the central challenge facing Israel as it continues to grapple with the United States turnaround, with its own political vacuum and with the absence of a credible response to the diplo- matic onslaught it is endur- ing. Israeli Prime Minister Shamir appeared genuinely nonplussed by the unexpected U.S. decision, which came just a day after the Reagan ad- ministration officially an- nounced that Arafat's address to the General Assembly had failed to satisfy its conditions for opening a dialogue. At the weekend, after an in- itial meeting in Tunis bet- ween U.S. Ambassador Robert Pelletreau aid PLO officials, Shamir conceded that rela- tions between Jerusalem and Washington were facing "a serious test." He was clearly deriving lit- tle comfort from the assess- The uprising has already produced a public relations catastrophe for Israel, deepening its international isolation. ments of such senior Likud Party colleagues as Dan Meridor, who declared that "this is not the first time that Israel has stood alone." Not until George Bush enters the White House next month will Israel know the full extent of its isolation, but in the meantime, according to one Israeli official, "we will be calling in all our favors, all our chips." Yassir Arafat has indeed pushed the PLO's diplomatic boat far out to sea, setting a formidable pace and estab- lishing a commanding lead over Israel. For all that, however, he will not be able to luxuriate for long in his triumph. The big question is whether, when pressed to the wall, he can translate his declarations into deeds, whether he can fill the vessels of rhetoric with substance. Will the volatile, fractious coalition of religious and political forces within his own movement grant him a man- date to sit down with the Israelis — in the framework of an international peace con- ference or any other forum — to negotiate a settlement IWO .11