Former Presidents Ford and Carter have called Israel’s settlement policy on the West Bank the “major obstacle” to moderate Arab countries joining the Middle East peace process.
“Israel must halt its settlement policy –a move that alone might break the diplomatic log jam,” the former Presidents said in a jointly copy written article in the forthcoming February Readers Digest.
Ford and Carter, bitter rivals in the 1976 Presidential campaign, became friends when they went to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat They have issued several joint statements on various subjects but this is their first on the Middle East. Their article was in response to a request from Readers Digest for their analysis on how to achieve peace in the Mideast.
The two former Presidents also called on the Arab countries to demonstrate “the courage to step forward to negotiate for a Palestinian homeland with an Israel that they recognize as a fellow nation.” In particular, they urged King Hussein of Jordan to join the autonomy negotiations which they said would be a “dramatic gesture” that could put the government of Israeli Premier Menachem Begin “under immense pressure to reciprocate.”
As for President Reagan, his two predecessors urged him “to commit every political resource to the awesome, intricate and at times frustrating challenge of bringing Arab and Israeli to the realization that peace and security can come about only through reconciliation and relations built on trust.”
CLAIM ISRAEL IS VIOLATING CAMP DAVID ACCORDS
The two Presidents, who stressed support for the Camp David agreements, suggested that because of the “stigma attached to the term ‘Camp David’ by some Arab leaders, diplomatic work within that still binding agreement and under the aegis of UN Resolution 242 should be carried out under other terminology.” They said that Resolution 242 was the “cornerstone” of the peace effort in the Mideast.
While Carter and Ford outlined steps for the U.S. and Arab countries to take, most of their article was aimed at Israel, They said they had come to the “painful conclusion” that the Begin government “is not living up to” the commitments made in the Camp David agreement.
“It has shown little inclination to grant real autonomy to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza areas, ” Carter and Ford wrote. “It has continued to confiscate properties in occupied territories and to build settlements as if to create a de facto Israeli ascendancy there. It has publicly repudiated the Reagan peace plan which calls for a freeze for Israeli settlements.”
They said that the Begin government must “realize that, however it may define its intentions in the West Bank or Gaza, however it may seek to rationalize its actions there, the evidence is convincing to the Arab world and beyond that the Israeli leaders have simply chosen to seize these lands, and hold them by force.”
While criticizing the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and accusing the Begin government of “an inclination … toward a military rather than a diplomatic solution to Israel’s problems,” the two former Presidents conceded that before the Lebanese invasion all Israel could perceive were threats from the Palestine Liberation Organization rather than diplomatic efforts by Arab moderates. “Indeed, the need for credible voices articulating Arab — and more precisely Palestinian — concerns cannot be overstressed,” they added.
TWO REALITIES CITED
The two former Presidents stressed that there are two realities that have to be acknowledged. The first is that Israel is a nation and as such “has a right to exist and to co-exist in security and peace in the world community.” The second is that there are four million Palestinian people “scattered throughout the Middle East and other regions and they cry out for their own home, in which their legitimate rights may be exercised.”
Ford and Carter noted that they were both engaged in negotiations on Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai and on the Camp David negotiations and that they support President Reagan’s September I peace initiative. “But now the Arabs are waiting to see if Washington means business,” they noted.
They pointed out that the American role both as a “catalyst and mediator” is difficult. “It would require every skill of diplomacy and more, it will be tiring, bewildering, and even politically dangerous at times.” They added that at times only the President’s own personal intervention will be able to help the parties “overcome timidity, suspicion, anger.”
But Carter and Ford stressed, “It is vital that the negotiating process continue — however slowly at times — toward the goals of peaceful community in the Middle East. Every avenue must be pursued, every reasonable alternative explored. If it is not initially possible to bring all parties to the talk, we must be ready with alternatives.”
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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.
