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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, SEPTEMBER 10, 1982
PAGE 7
ON THE WORLD SCENE
STALEMATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST; ANOTHER CALL FOR EUROPE TO UNITE
The P.L.O. is out of Beirut, but a settlement of the Palestinian problem is
further away than ever.
Attempting to capitalize on the momentum of
changed conditions in the Middle East, President Reagan floated a new peace
plan last week, one essentially calling for Palestinian self-rule in the
West Bank under the authority of Jordan (which exercised rulership in the
region from 1948 to 1967). A separate Palestinian state was not called for.
Mr. Reagan is thus trying to bring more moderate Jordan into the "peace
process." And the U.S. President wouldn't mind undercutting support for
the hard-line policies of Prime Minister Begin both in Israel and among
Jewish Americans.
Mr. Reagan's plan, though heartily endorsed throughout the western world,
has gotten nowhere in the two areas that really count--Israel and the Arab
world.
On Wednesday, September 8, the Israeli Knesset voted SO to 36 to endorse the
Begin cabinet's earlier rejection of the U.S. proposal. Mr. Begin himself
all but said that Israel, far from granting Palestinian self-rule in the
West Bank, would eventually incorporate the region, in fact if not in name.
He thundered a blunt challenge to Mr. Reagan:
"If someone tried to take
Judea and Samaria from us, we will tell him: Judea and Samaria are for the
Jewish people for all generations."
The Arab countries, meeting at the same time in a summit in Fez, Morocco,
were working on their own peace proposal. Said to be a spinoff of the
Reagan plan, it actually bore little resemblance to it, calling for Israel
to withdraw from all post-1967 territories, and for the establishment of a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The Arab plan only im
plicitly recognized Israel's right to exist, by calling for international
guarantees "of all borders in the region."
Obviously the Arab plan is a no-go from the start. And a feisty Israeli
government, swollen with confidence due to the war's result and public
opinion polls showing almost unchallenged support among the voters, heaped
scorn on the President's plan, refusing to reject it in the more polite ter
minology of diplomacy.
Despite Mr. Begin's strong support at the moment, not a few in Israel fear
that their country is being isolated more than ever from its chief support
er, the United States. Reports the LOS ANGELES TIMES of September 9, 1982:
Former Police Minister Shlomo Hillel of the Labor Party said the
opposition grouping has doubts about parts of Reagan's plan but
objects to the way the Cabinet immediately slammed the door on
the President, whom he called "one of the few righteous leaders
who was steadfast in his support of Israel."
"Where is the wisdom? Where is the political responsibility, or
at least some minimal degree of sophistication?" Hillel demanded.
"With your own hands, you made the Arab League countries•.•seem
more rational, wiser and more responsible than the Israeli
government.