Lipshutz: Israel’s Viability Rests on Solution of Palestinian Problem

Robert Lipshutz, Counsel to President Carter and a member of the White House inner circle, said in an address to Jewish audiences in Baltimore and Westfield, N.J. over the weekend that Israel’s viability rests on solution of the Palestinian problem.

“True peace can come to Israel only when everyone– Jews and Arabs alike–recognize that the Palestinian Arabs are persons with the same human needs for dignity and stability as all other human beings, instead of just a political football to be kicked about,” he said.

“How this is to be accomplished,” he continued, “must be decided by the West Bank and Gaza Arabs, the Israelis, and others who have Palestinian Arabs in their midst. But this action must be taken if true peace and true stability are to be secured for Israel and its neighbors.”

Lipshutz addressed the Temple Emanu-EI congregation in Westfield Friday night and the Associated Jewish Charities at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Sunday night. The texts of his remarks were made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“American Jews,” are “firmly committed to a strong, secure and viable independent State of Israel,” he said. “I can assure you that this American government, led by President Jimmy Carter, also is committed to a strong, secure and viable independent State of Israel. This President’s commitment to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people is not only a commitment of the mind it is a commitment of his heart and his soul, which goes back to the earliest years of his life.”

Carter and his Administration, Lipshutz said, have recognized the imperative of solving the Palestinian question “not only because it is right but because it is essential” if “we are going to be able to fulfill” the commitment.