Israeli Envoy and Former U.S. Official Agree That Sponsors of Terrorism Cannot Escape Reprisals

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Binyamin Netanyahu and a former senior Reagan Administration official agreed at a conference here that sponsors of international terrorism cannot remain immune from reprisals, which may include the use of military action like that used by the United States against Libya Monday.

“Unless the terrorists know there is really a cost to them for harming Americans, then terrorism is going to be cheap to them,” Robert McFarlane, the President’s former National Security Advisor, told some 400 persons attending an all-day conference here several days before the Libyan raid.

The United States, McFarlane continued, has a “legal and moral right to move preemptively against terrorists.” He said Washington must work closely with its European allies in the battle against terrorism, a battle he said was not being won through the use of economic sanctions.

Netanyahu, also addressing the conference on international terrorism sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the war on terrorism should be waged by using diplomatic and economic sanctions against those who support terrorist activities.

But he conceded that these methods have not always proved successful. “Terrorism is an undeclared war,” he stated. “Finding when, whom and what focus to apply is difficult, but terrorists are servants of the governments that launch them. Military force then becomes a legal response. A posture of weakness invites further aggression.”

A LEGITIMATE OBJECT OF MILITARY RESPONSE

According to Netanyahu, “if a government has harbored, trained and launched terrorists, it becomes a legitimate object of military response.” Libya, for example, has 20 known terrorist training camps and “such a government forfeits any claim of immunity.”

Also participating in the conference at the ballroom of the Sheraton Premier in Universal City was Brian Jenkins, a terrorism specialist with the Rand Corporation, and Joseph Joffe, foreign editor of the West German newspaper, Die Deutsche Zeitung.

According to Jenkins, who serves as a consultant to a number of U.S. government agencies, there were 480 incidents of international terrorism in 1985 with 854 deaths and 1,268 injuries. Jenkins said that he does not believe there is a solution to the problem, but added that a “defensive posture does not rule out using force.”

In addition to the panel discussion, those attending the conference unanimously approved a resolution calling for “governments of the United States, European allies and all friendly nations to revoke landing rights at all international airports of any nation supporting terrorists.”