Dinitz Says Doom-and-gloom Mood About Israel is Totally Unwarranted

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S.; Simcha Dinitz, assailed the “despair and desperation” that he said affected some friends of Israel in the U.S. “The sense of doom-and-gloom that many of Israel’s supporters feel is totally unwarranted and unjustified by the fact,” Dinitz said in an address yesterday to the World Conference of Jewish Organizations (COJO), which opened a two-day meeting here. Some 95 delegates from five continents are attending the COJO meeting.

Dinitz told the delegates: “If 650,000 Israelis could overcome the efforts of six Arab countries to crush the new-born Jewish State in 1948, there is no doubt whatsoever that three million Israelis can and will win the second war of independence in which we are now engaged.” He said he sees “no reason for the anxiety and fatalism that many friends of Israel feel today, but I know it exists. We cannot permit it to debilitate our efforts or demoralize our supporters. The concern they feel for our future must be translated into action to build understanding and mobilize support for Israel’s cause.”

Dinitz said the U.S. and Israel were in complete agreement on the principle of step-by-step, bi-lateral negotiations between Israel and the

Arab governments that waged the Yom Kippur War. “But there can be no further territorial withdrawals without a political quid-pro-quo.” he stated Dinitz also rejected “categorically and in the most emphatic terms” suggestions that Israel had “missed the boat” by “waiting too long to negotiate on the West Bank with Jordan.”

He said: “We knew exactly where Hussein wanted. Jordan simply demanded that we withdraw a certain distance from the West Bank and give up East Jerusalem. No government of Israel could accept his demands, which were not even accompanied by any political concessions. If we had met his terms, Arafat would now be sitting on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.” The Israeli diplomat said it was his government’s view that the most promising partner for negotiation today was Egypt.

STRONG ISRAEL ASSURES PEACE

But he warned, “No Arab state will engage in diplomacy with Israel If it believes it can destroy us in war. That is why an economically strong and militarily secure Israel Is essential if there is to be progress toward a Middle East settlement.” The struggle on the informational front “is also critical,” Dinitz concluded. “More than ever. Israel’s security is linked to an understanding and appreciation of its position by the makers of public opinion and public policy in America.”

Abraham Marks, secretary of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, paid tribute during another session of the COJO meeting to the “effective role” played by the American Jewish community in helping to build public support for Israel, The delegation of the Board of Deputies, one of the II constituent members of COJO. is headed by Alderman Michael Fidler, chairman of its Foreign Affairs Committee.