Furor over Possible Meeting Between Goldmann and Arafat

Dr. Nahum Goldmann, the controversial Jewish leader and former president of the World Jewish Congress, was the center of a new furor in Israel today over reports that he might meet with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat. Goldmann denied the reports but with the qualification that if he did receive an invitation to meet Arafat he would accept it.

The incident began with a report of a telephone interview by the New York Times with Goldmann, who is currently in West Germany, quoting him as saying he might meet Arafat in September or October.

Reached by telephone by Yediot Achronot correspondent Yeshayahu Ben Porat, Goldmann said there were no plans now for such a meeting. He told Ben Porat that for “a long time” he had been approached repeatedly by “people” suggesting such a meeting, but nothing concrete has been proposed, that he had received no invitation from Arafat, and that, “in any case, I have not yet decided to accept or reject such an invitation if it comes.”

In an interview today on Israel Radio, Goldmann again denied that a meeting with Arafat had been set but, on that interview, he said that if he did get an invitation, he would accept it.

Declaring on the radio interview that “there are many people–Arabs, Europeans, Americans–who advise me to meet” with Arafat, Goldmann defied his critics. He said he once told Premier Menachem Begin that, having resigned as president of the WJC, “I am a private person and I can meet whoever I want to meet.” He added that, “of course, I shall report to Begin both before the meeting and afterwards.”

REJECTS NOT TALKING TO PLO

Goldmann added that “in principle,” he opposed Israel’s position “that negates any talks with members of the PLO.” He dismissed as neither “wise” nor “realistic” the principle that “one should not talk to terrorists in order to persuade them to quit terrorism.” He expressed certainty that, “in the long run,” the United States “will not stick to this negative position.”

He said that, if he did meet Arafat, he would tell him that the PLO “should cease from terror and recognize Israel in the borders which would be determined in an agreement on an overall peace.” Goldmann also said he believed “the majority” of the PLO was ready to recognize Israel “but they are afraid of a split in the organization.” He said he tended to agree with “my friends in the Communist world and elsewhere” that the PLO was keeping recognition of Israel “as its last card” which it did not “want to waste” by acting “too early.”

According to press reports abroad, Goldmann said he had been encouraged to meet Arafat by “a member of the Administration in Washington whom I am not at liberty to identify.” In Washington today, following this report, the State Department promised to say whether the Administration is designating private individuals to make contacts for it with the PLO. Goldmann’s statement raised questions on the larger issue of whether the U.S. is having private citizens act for it.

PROMPT, SHARP REACTION TO GOLDMANN

Reaction in Israel was prompt and sharp. Abraham Katz, Likud Knesset member who is acting chairman of the WZO, called on Goldmann “an behalf of the Zionist movement,” to refrain from taking a step which “may blemish his reputation.” He warned that if Goldmann did meet Arafat, he would take himself not only out of the Israeli national consensus but also “out of the world Jewish consensus.”

Katz said he did not believe Goldmann would meet Arafat, noting that “he still represents a number of international Jewish bodies.” In an interview on Israel Radio, Katz said a meeting between Goldmann and Arafat would be a knife in the back of the State of Israel.” There were reports that if the rumors of a Goldmann-Arafat meeting proved to be accurate, friends of the world Jewish leader, and WJC leaders, planned to ask Goldmann not to meet with Arafat.