Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Cross Swords on Mideast, Other Issues

The three Democratic Presidential hopefuls crossed swords last night, in a heated debate on their respective positions on arms control and foreign policy, but the discussion failed to elicit any new positions by the candidates on the Palestinian issue and the Middle East situation.

While former Vice President Walter Mondale affirmed that he opposes a Palestinian homeland, and Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado evaded taking a clear-cut position, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he supported a Palestinian homeland that should be a “non-militarized state that allows the people, the Palestinian people, to engage in self-government and self-development.”

The debate, the sixth between the three Presidential candidates was held at the Low Memorial Library at Columbia University before some 200 persons and was moderated by Dan Rather of CBS News. It preceeded the crucial Presidential primary in New York on April 3 and in Pennsylvania on April 10 where a total of 424 delegates are at stake.

STATEMENTS ON A PALESTINIAN HOMELAND

Asked by Rather if the Palestinians “are entitled to something that they would consider to be their homeland,” Mondale responded: “No. No. No. I oppose a homeland … because the Camp David accords, in my opinion, provides the only responsible resolution of this dispute and Israel is a signator and has agreed to negotiate. (King) Hussein (of Jordan) refuses to sit down.”

Hart answered by noting that “the organized entity of the Palestinians, the PLO, has a solemn covenant to destroy the State of Israel. I think we can, in fact, achieve some resolution of the Palestinian issue, autonomy or whatever. But only after the other nations in the region are willing to abandon that commitment to destroy that one nation.”

Jackson stated, “The Palestinians deserve a homeland just as other nations deserve a homeland. So long as we ignore that basic right and that basic quest we can only prepare for war in the Middle East as opposed to peace.” He added, however, that “Israel deserves the right to security within internationally recognized boundaries.”

The United States, Jackson continued, remains the only nation which can approach the various leaders in the Middle East and assemble them to discuss peace in the region. He called for the U.S. to “normalize our ties in the Arab world” and said that as long as the U.S.”leadership becomes weak-kneed in the face of that challenge, we’ll not have peace in the Middle East.”

COMMITMENT TO CAMP DAVID

Mondale reaffirmed his commitment to the Camp David accords, saying the agreement “provides among other things the parties will negotiate a solution to the Palestinian problem in all of its aspects.” He said this begins with a strong strategic relationship with Israel and “involves not trying to pre-negotiate these agreements and above all, it requires that King Hussein show the courage of (the late Egyptian) President (Anwar) Sadat and sit down and negotiate.

Mondale asserted that while serving as Vice President in the Carter Administration he was “a central part of the negotiations” at Camp David between the Israeli and Egyptian delegations and added that former Premier Menachem Begin of Israel “credited me with being the spirit of Camp David.”

Continuing, Mondale said there was much “hypocrisy” in the Middle East on the Palestinian issue where the Arab nations have sought to place the burden of solving the Palestinian question “on Israel’s lap.” He said the U.S. should not “impose a solution” of the Palestinian issue on Israel “in the absence of the willingness of Hussein and others representing their country to sit down….”

Mondale and Hart briefly exchanged verbal barbs on the Carter Administration decision in 1978 to sell advanced F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Hart voted against the sale while Mondale asserted last night that “I opposed (it) in private councils of the Carter Administration.”