EDITORIAL

Lurching Toward Unity

After seven long weeks, it appears that a coalition government
has finally been patched together in Israel. During those weeks,
newspapers in Israel and America detailed how the Labor and Likud
parties dickered, haggled and bluffed with each other. Simultaneous-
ly, they flirted with the religious parties that demanded changes in
the Law of Return — a prospect that galvanized the American Jewish
community as never before to lobby Israelis over an internal issue.
The result of all this will be an Israeli government not that dif-
ferent from the one that preceded it. A government formed by two
major parties which find themselves once again forced into a tight
but unloving embrace. After all of their moves and countermoves
since the Nov. 1 election, Labor and Likud have swallowed hard and
decided it was better to get together than take their respective risks.
Likud's risk would have been to form a narrow coalition with the
religious parties; Labor's would have been to further jeopardize eco-
nomically the Histadrut labor unions and its industries by remain-
ing outside the government.
The essential lesson of these weeks of negotiations is that Israel
is a hostage of its own electoral system. As Simcha Dinitz, former
Israeli Ambassador to the United States, said last week in New York,
"Our system is very democratic. It is just unworkable."
Electoral reform should be a priority of the new government, tur-
ning Israel into a political entity that works smoothly and quickly
— and not a nation that stammers and clatters on its way to finding
a government that can function. As long as Israel retains its pre-
sent electoral system its very stability will be threatened, and issues
like the controversy over "Who Is A Jew;' a moot point now in prac-
tical terms, will continue to reappear.

With Arafat the darling of the media, it must be emphasiz-
ed that this conflict is not about a Palestinian homeland but about
the right of Israel to exist. The world must be made to realize that
when the PLO was founded in 1964, the land that the PLO now
claims it would settle for was in Arab hands. So why was the PLO
formed if not, as it asserted, to destroy Israel?
If Arafat wishes to be taken seriously, let him signal his good
intentions by calling a halt to the intifada, an end to violence against
Israelis, and for an amendment to the PLO charter that still ad-
vocates the destruction of Israel.
Can Yassir Arafat be believed? "If you believe that their inten-
tion is to kill you;' Henry Kissinger has said privately of the PLO,
"it isn't unreasonable to believe that they would lie to you."
Now, then, is the time for Washington to study and compare
Arafat's words and actions, because this is not a matter of rhetoric.
Israel's very life is at stake.
But this is also a time that requires boldness from Jerusalem.
lbo many people perceive of the PLO as reaching out to make peace
and of Israel unwilling to remove its head from the sand.
Jerusalem, rather than continuing to say "no" to every new Arab
development, must formulate and put forward a credible peace plan
of its own. It must be willing to outline what it would give up
in return for peace. If the PLO is willing to proceed, perhaps there
is real chance for optimism; if the PLO rejects the effort, let the world
see the Palestinian unwillingness to compromise.
Abba Eban once said that the Arabs have never missed an op-
portunity to miss an opportunity. That may no longer be true. Arafat
has been savvy enough to gain stature through words and gestures
rather than actions. Now is the time to watch him most closely, and
for Israel to call his bluff through a diplomatic initiative of her own.

Call Arafat's Bluff

How are we to respond to Washington's decision to talk to the
PLO — with anger and a sense of betrayal or with acceptance and
trust?
Neither. We believe this is a time for reason rather than emo-
tion, and, if properly utilized, an opportunity to enhance empathy
for Israel. Those in Israel and America who believe that the PLO
remains a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of the Jewish
state should be calling Yassir Arafat's bluff and insisting that his
words of moderation be backed by action.
The PLO needs Washington now to continue the dialogue. Let
Washington monitor the PLO's deeds, and let it be known that at-
tacks on Israel, or Jews anywhere, are acts of terrorism, not
"resistance."
Israel has more than two decades of bloodshed and terrorist at-
tacks upon its citizenry to back up its skepticism of Arafat as a
man of peace. Many believe that the PLO leader has changed only
his tactics, not his goal, and that he now advocates the destruction
of Israel in phases rather than in one military or diplomatic coup.

LETTERS

Arafat Tells
His Solution

It seems that the world will
not be satisfied until a "solu-
tion" is found for the Jews.
Forty years ago we had
Hitler's "final solution" and
now we have Arafat's "in-
terim solution" — the PLO's
two-stage solution to the pro-
blem of Israel. Stage one in-
volves diplomatic negotia-
tions that will shrink Israel
to indefensible borders, and

6 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1988

stage two is the liquidation of
Israel.
In Munich in 1938, the
Czech city of Sudetenland
was ceded to Hitler in a "land
for peace deal." Within
months Hitler overtook the
rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler
spoke of peace while he
prepared for war.
Today we have the world ex-
pecting Israel to make a
"land for peace deal" with
Arafat. (Stage one). In
English, Arafat speaks of

peace; in Arabic, _ Arafat
prepares for war. (Stage two).
I shudder to think that
history is repeating itself.

Linda Goudsmit

West Bloomfield

Lecture Defines
U.S. War Role

It was a privilege to hear
David Wyman's lecture on
America's role during the
Holocaust at the Jewish
Center on Dec. 6.

Our government's lack of
concern for European Jewry
was clearly outlined. Also set
forth was the weak effort by
American Jewish leaders and
prominent American Jews in
rescue efforts.
As an attendee of this and
other Holocaust lectures, I
continue to be disappointed at
the limited turnout for such
valuable presentations.
Sadly, this seems to mirror
the lack of American Jewry's

response to the Holocaust 45
years ago.

Harry J. Bernstein

Southfield

Land For Peace
Criticized

The Reagan - Bush ad-
ministration support of U.N.
242 which condemns acquir-
ing territory by force and calls
for the return of such land,

Continued on Page 78

