Premier Menachem Begin and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir spent time today explaining to visiting U.S. Congressmen why the document reportedly signed by Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat implying recognition of Israel was–in Shamir’s words–“an exercise in deceit and delusion.”
They met separately with the Congressional delegation headed by Rep. Paul McCloskey (R. Calif.) whose meeting with Arafat in west Beirut Monday touched off a worldwide controvery over the PLO’s intentions. McCloskey insisted that Arafat’s signature amounted to his “acceptance of all United Nations resolutions which included the right of Israel to exist.”
Begin also had an apparently stormy encounter with Sen. Paul Tsongas (D. Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, over Israel’s attitude toward the PLO and its actions in Lebanon. Tsongas later described their 90-minute meeting as “distressing.” Begin received McCloskey’s group right after the Senator left. The Congressmen said afterwards that it was “a very friendly meeting” but “heated at times.” They described their earlier meeting with Shamir, which lasted less than an hour as having been conducted “in a friendly atmosphere.” McCloskey opened it by repeating that in his view, Israel had to recognize the PLO and that the PLO would be ready to recognize Israel.
ISRAEL STILL SEEKING DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION
Shamir, who was said to have done most of the talking, told his guests that they had been deceived by Arafat because there was no change in the PLO’s commitment to destroy Israel. He said Israel is still seeking a diplomatic rather than a military solution to the situation in west Beirut and therefore was giving American diplomatic efforts more time to succeed. He suggested that if the PLO really wanted peace it would bow out of the scene and make way for a more moderate Palestinian leadership.
The Congressmen told reporters, after the meeting that “We have learned a lot and so we think has Mr. Shamir.” Voice of Israel Radio reported that McCloskey emerged from the meetings with Begin and Shamir feeling that he had erred to a certain extent in over-emphasizing the importance of Arafat’s signature on a document.
TSONGAS UNSETTLED BY MEETING
Tsongas, giving his version of his meeting with Begin, said he asked the Premier what Israel’s reaction would be if Arafat went beyond his commitment to McCloskey and unequivocally accepted UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. According to Tsongas, Begin responded that Israel would not negotiate with Arafat under any conditions, “never.”
“Given that, and given the bombing that is going on, it is very difficult to understand how the pieces are going to be brought together,” the Senator told reporters. Tsangas also said that when he told Begin the U.S. was opposed to the bombing of Beirut, the Israeli leader replied that two weeks ago the Americans “told a different story.” Tsongas declared, “I for one would like to know what that story was and what kind of signals we were sending two weeks ago.”
He said “I don’t know what they (the U.S. Administration) were sending two weeks ago, but very clearly the Premier thought that what we are seeing today and what we saw two weeks ago were differenct things. When I go back to Washington that’s going to be a priority.”
Tsongas said he had urged Begin not to order the Israeli army into west Beirut, though he thought the PLO should leave. He said Begin replied that Israel would do what it has to do. The Massachusetts Senator, who toured Lebanan, also said he was deeply disturbed by the considerable destruction he saw in such places as Sidon, a former PLO stronghold.
“Begin told me that his military advised him that most of the damage done in Sidon had been done by the Palestinians,” Tsongas said. “I saw Sidon, I spoke with the Lebanese. It is simply not ture. If his military commanders are telling him that, we have got a real problem. He has a real problem.”
Tsongas also contended that the Lebanese who initially had welcomed the Israeli army as liberators, were now changing their minds and are anxious to see the Israelis leave.
The document reportedly signed by Arafat was the subject of debate in the Knesset yesterday. Shamir insisted that the PLO leader has not changed his attitude toward Israel and expressed gratification that the American Administration “has not fallen for the trap of El Fatah.” The State Department yesterday rejected the Arafat document as not meeting the conditions the U.S. has established for recognition of the PLO.
Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres said that as long as the PLO resorted to terrorism and demanded a Palestinian state, no document could change the basic situation.
Mapam Secretary General Victor Shemtov agreed that the document did not imply recognition of Israel, McCloskey’s interpretation of it not with standing. But it could serve as a first step in the right direction and should not be rejected out of hand, Shemtov said. Labor MK Yossi Sarid urged the government to carefully evaluate Arafat’s document. “One should not reject such a step a priori,” he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
