Major American Jewish organizations today blasted Sen. Charles Percy (R. III.) for advocating a Palestinian state headed by Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat. They contended that this is was not the position of the incoming Republican Administration the Senate or the American people.
Percy, who is slated to become chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the Congress, stated his views to Soviet leaders on his visit to Moscow two weeks ago, according to nobles sent to Washington by Thomas Watson, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union. The classified messages were made available to The New York Times which published a summary of their contents yesterday. Percy was quoted as saying that a Palestinian state “would permit Arafat to realize his wish to be a chief of state before he dies.
Howard Squadron, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, declared that “Coming at a time growing disenchantment with the PLO, its leadership and its terrorist tactics, Senator Percy’ appointment of Yasir Arafat as the head of a new Palestinian state is particularly irresponsible. We are confident that Senator Percy does not speak to Ronald Reagan or the new Republican Administration. The President-elect has clearly and repeatedly condemned the PLO and rejected the tea of a separate Palestinian state.”
HAGGAN URGED TO DISSOCIATE HIMSELF FROM PERCY
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the American Hebrew Congregations, said in telegram to Reagan that “Because of the confuse and potentially disastrous misunderstanding that could develop from Senator Percy’s unhappy contents and claim of your support in his opinion, I urge you to dissociate yourself from his crew and to reassert your opposition to a Palestinian state and your determination never to deal with terrorists.” Schindler added: “We know these Jews (Percy’s) are diametrically opposed to your law as you clearly and unequivocally expressed them during your successful election campaign.”
Maynard Wishner, president of the American Jewish Committee, declared that the AJ Committee before that even before assuming the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senator Percy has seen fit to announce his support for a Palestinian state with Yasir Arafat as its leader. We are certain that this does not represent the policy of either the present or the incoming Administration, nor the sentiment of the Senate and the American people.”
Rabbi Joseph Sternstein, president of the American Zionist Federation, charged that “For Senator Percy to view the PLO, whose tentacles are intertwined with international Communist terrorist as legitimate rulers of a state when they hold even their own Arab compatriots at gunpoint, is to reduce morality to the dungheap of civilization. Is this the great contribution which Senator Percy can make to the Middle East peace process? Or has he only embarrassed President-elect Reagan whose views clearly and publicly contradict those of the Senator? We wait for an answer,” Sternstein said.
Ivan Novick, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said Percy’s view was “contrary to that held by most Americans. The recent elections gave the Republican Party an impressive mandate to carry out various programs and policies. This includes rejection of the PLO and the concept of a separate state. It is not in the interests of the United States to encourage the enemy of our ally, the State of Israel. Nor is it to the benefit of the Palestinian Arab people to believe there is no hope in moderation.”
ANGER FROM TRANSITION TEAM
According to the Times report, Percy’s conversations with Soviet leaders, which encompassed strategic arms talks, China and Afghanistan as well as the Middle East, drew expressions of anger and dismay from most members of Reagan’s transition team for two reasons.
One was Percy’s impending accession to the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee which will give him powerful leverage in foreign policy matters. The other was the report that Percy told the Soviet leaders that “much of what he was about to say had all been coordinated with President-elect Reagan,” applying that the new Administration favored a Palestinian state. Reagan has stated publicly that he does not and branded the PLO a “terrorist” organization.
The Times report was not the first indication of the Senator’s attitude on a Palestinian state. The Illinois Republican said on the ABC-TV “Good Morning America” program last Monday that he envisioned a Palestinian state in federation with Jordan and disarmed for offensive purposes for at least 25 years. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on Dec. 3 that Percy told the television interviewer that he and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev had disagreed on the nature of such a state.
“He (Brezhnev) wants to see the PLO a sovereign state, armed with their own territory,” Percy said. “I feel that it should be in federation with Jordan. It should be like Japan and Germany, disarmed. for offensive purposes for at least 25 years and it must — recognize the rights of Israel to exist, its sovereignty and to have defensible borders.” Those remarks elicited no comment from any sources at the time. Percy has come under fire from American Jews in the past for his views that Israel should return to its pre – June 1967 borders and deal with the PLO.
The Times reported that Percy discussed his views with Brezhnev, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov and that they were the subject of Watson’s messages which were circulated to the State Department, the Pentagon, to Reagan’s transition aides and on Capitol Hill.
PERCY EXPRESSES DISMAY
The Times said that Percy, reached at this office, expressed dismay at the release of the cables because they were likely to be misinterpreted. “These are
It quoted Percy as saying, “I have always insisted that there could never be a possibility of the U.S. negotiating with the Palestinians until the Palestinians recognize the sovereignty of Israel, the right of its people to live in peace with sensible borders.”
Percy also said according to the Times that “Arafat has a compelling desire to be a chief of state, no matter how small it is. He is a terrorist, he has done same dastardly things; but he is a fact of life, he exists.”
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