Members of the ruling Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) parliamentary faction have published a statement favoring the continuation of the peace process in the Middle East based on the Camp David accords. The statement, addressed to the U.S. Congress and signed by prominent members of the SPD, is opposed to any change in Security Council Resolution 242.
Although it was not stated explicitly, the move was seen here as a further attempt by friends of Israel to restrain the West European countries from launching their own peace initiative in the Middle East which is fully supported and was partly initiated by Chancellor Helmut Schmidt’s SPD-led coalition government.
The signatories to the statement include Herbert Whener, chairman of the SPD’s parliamentary faction, Anne-Marie Renger, vice president of the Bundestag and Georg Leber, former Defense Minister. Their move however is not expected to influence the government which is already committed to a Mideast initiative by the nine member states of the European Economic Community. It is intended to replace the Camp David accords with a new frame work for Mideast peace.
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