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10 - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1991

Continued from Page 7

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"I wonder why he's so reluctant to come!"

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sunsHine

On The Chin

Madrid conference, the
Arabs failed to accept the
reality of Israel on a
psychological level.
It is a subtle but important
point. For while a political
breakthrough was achieved
in Madrid, there was no
sense that the kind of peace
the Arabs were willing to
discuss involved more than
regaining lost territory.
Israel's insistence that real
peace means political, econ-
omic and diplomatic trade —
a sincere respect for each of
the parties on a human level
— was not addressed.
So the Arab side is content
to insist on the return of
land and to make its case
with the Bush administra-
tion.
Even more troubling are
the numerous indications
that the administration is
sympathetic to such an ap-
proach.
More substantive than the
shabby way Mr. Bush
treated Mr. Shamir in Wash-
ington last week, announc-
ing the Washington invita-
tion only hours before
meeting with the Israeli
leader, has been the ad-
ministration's display of
warmth toward President
Assad of Syria and cold
shoulder toward Israel.
Mr. Assad, the most
implacable of participants in
the peace process, has been
busy spending the monies he
received for joining the
U.S.-led coalition in the war
on Iraq. Why is he buying
missiles and other major

arms from China and North
Korea? Surely not to protect
his country from Lebanon,
which he swallowed up
without a peep of protest
from Washington.
The man who has said he
wants military parity with
Israel, so he can wage war
with the Jewish state
without the aid of his fellow
Arabs, is demanding a
return of the Golan Heights.
Period.
And the U.S., in a private
letter of assurance to coax
him to the peace talks, has
endorsed the notion that
Israel should relinquish the
strategically vital Golan in
return for peace.
Is this the involvement of
an honest broker or a U.S.
administration so eager to
see the peace talks proceed
that it may be weakening
Israel's position?
Israel's leaders are wor-
ried enough about the an-
swer to that question to have
allowed themselves to take
it on the chin this week in
terms of public relations.
The feeble excuse offered
by Mr. Shamir's aides was
that they need more time
before coming to Washing-
ton. What they really need is
for the Bush administration
to take a back seat now and
let the Arabs and Israelis
discuss the issues them-
selves. It's not whether the
table is rectangular or round
that matters. It's who is sit-
ting behind it, and whether
the common goal is real
peace. ❑