Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Meir Rosenne, today assailed the international community for its silent reaction to Syria’s continued refusal to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
“The world doesn’t care very much about the independence of Lebanon, ” Rosenne told a luncheon of the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) here. Delegates representing 41 states and five countries are participating in the three day conference which concludes tomorrow.
But Rosenne said that “with the right pressure” on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon simultaneously with Israeli troops and the Palestine Liberation Organization, “there is hope.” He warned however that “Israel’s patience has a limit.”
Rosenne said that because of the internal strife of the PLO, “I think there is more hope to reach a settlement and start the peace negotiations” with Palestinians “who genuinely want peace with Israel.”
He said the mutiny within the ranks of PLO chief Yasir Arafat’s Fatah organization “proves that this group of terrorists is not representative of the Palestinian Arabs. His group of terrorists should not participate in any negotiations.”
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