COLORWORKS STUDIO OF INTERIOR DESIGN
Middle East
Message
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Israel's ambassador to the United Nations states
Israel's case to Detroit Jewish leaders.
ALAN HITSKY
AsSociate Editor
I
Robert Stewart Photography
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1/23
1998
10
n advance of this week's crucial
talks in Washington to revitalize
Middle East peace talks, Israel's
ambassador to the United
Nations went on a cross-country blitz
to buttress support in the American
Jewish community.
Connecticut-born Dore Gold spoke
last week to major contributors to
Detroit's Allied Jewish Campaign as
part of his whirlwind trip to Detroit,
Chicago, Palm Beach, Los Angeles,
San Francisco and Houston.
"Israeli diplomats historically have
met with American Jews," Gold said,
adding that the great challenge today
is to portray Israel's "precise message."
"The American Jewish population,"
he said, "has deep feelings of support
for Israel. But at the same time, peo-
ple face hostile press reports on Israel.
"We don't have to give advice. We
have to give American Jews the ability
and information to deal with criticism
that is thrown at Israel."
There are "promises and dangers"
in the Oslo peace process, Gold told
The Jewish News following the dinner
event at Knollwood Country Club.
He said the U.S. has a critical role to
play "to insist on Palestinian compli-
ance" with the Oslo accords.
Gold accused Palestinian leader
Yassir Arafat of violating "the core of
Oslo" by getting the Jihad and Hamas
factions to kill Israelis.
"Yet, Israel is blamed for delaying
the peace process," he said.
Gold said the Palestinians had a
•
four-pronged offensive against Israel in
the UN General Assembly last fall.
They challenged Israel's credentials,
asked to be elevated to full non-voting
membership, sought the convening of
the 1949 Geneva Convention delegates
to discuss the status of Gaza and the
West Bank, and pressed for a General
Assembly call for Palestinian statehood.
"They failed on all four points,"
Gold said. "They overassessed their
strength."
A critical point was the Palestinians'
insistence that Israel does not have a
claim in the territories. The Palestin-
ian logic works against Russian claims
to disputed former Soviet territories,
India's claim to Kashmir and other
international land disputes. If the UN
had accepted the Palestinian proposal,
other countries would have been vul-
nerable, Gold said.
He described this week's meetings
Dore Gold: aiprecise message.
in Washington as critical.
"We are in a position now where
many are asking Israel to go beyond
the Oslo accords," Gold said, adding
that Israeli leaders Yitzhak Rabin and
Shimon Peres never agreed to a freeze
on Israeli settlements and that rede-
ployment of Israeli forces, under the
Oslo agreement, was up to Israel.
Israel has been harshly criticized —
diplomatically and in the media — for
not freezing settlements and for not
pulling back its military units on the
West Bank.
Gold said President Bill Clinton's
separate talks in Washington this week
with Netanyahu and Arafat were criti-
cal. "If Arafat feels he has been
rewarded, violence [against Israel] will
escalate." El