Dr. Nahum Goldmann, long a severe critic of Israel government policies toward the Arabs, has come out strongly in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to an interview published in the daily Kurier yesterday. Goldmann maintained that no solution could be found to the crisis in Lebanon until Israeli-Arab relations are improved and an important prerequisite for that development was the creation of a Palestinian state.
Goldmann, a past president of the World Jewish Congress and of the World Zionist Organization, was quoted as saying, “I condemn the permanent Israeli raids on Lebanon. These attacks are morally and politically not justified. I hope that another government than (Premier Menachem) Begin’s and another Chief of Staff than (Gen. Rafael) Eytan will change this policy.” He added, according to the Kurier interview, “I see no peace before the Palestinians have had the right to found a state of their own, just as they like … They have the same right as other peoples, just like Israel has it. Without a solution of the Palestinian question, no real peace will be possible in the Middle East.”
Goldmann was quoted as saying he had “serious doubts” about the “Jordanian option” proposed by Israel’s Labor Party, not because he disapproves of the plan itself but because “I cannot imagine that King Hussein can split from the other Arab nations as did Eaypt’s President Anwar Sadal.”
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