Sen. Charles Percy (R. III.) told a group of Chicago Jewish leaders yesterday that he did not support the creation of a Palestinian state headed by Yasir Arafat but envisioned some sort of “Palestinian entity” that would be “something less than a state” as being essential to further progress toward peace in the Middle East.
Percy, who will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the next Congress, met privately for 1 1/2 hours with 11 leaders of the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Jewish United Fund (JUF) of Metropolitan Chicago. The delegation was headed by Joel Sprayregen, PAC chairman, and Robert Schrayer, president of the JUF.
The meeting was requested by Percy who has come under attacked from American Jewish leaders for reportedly having advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state headed by Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat during his conversations with Soviet leaders in Moscow last month. His remarks there were contained in classified cables, sent by U.S. Ambassador Thomas Watson in Moscow to the State. Department, which were subsequently leaked to the media.
EXPLAINS VIEWS OF ‘PALESTINIAN ENTITY’
At a press conference after yesterday’s meeting, Percy said he would never approve of any “Palestinian entity if it were a threat to Israel.” He said Arab leaders must openly endorse Israel’s sovereignty and right to exist with defensible borders as a “condition precedent” to becoming part of the ongoing peace negotiations. Percy also said that Arafat was “absolutely unacceptable” as a leader under current circumstances.
He said that while he supports the Camp David accords, he considered the formation of a Palestinian entity to necessarily involve Jordan in the peace process. He spoke of such an entity as a demilitarized province federated with Jordan but one that would have its own police force and militia.
Percy acknowledged that the storm over the remarks attributed to him in the leaked Watson cable arose because the report implied that he was speaking for President-elect Reagan. He said that his discussions with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev were about arms control and the Polish situation and that he spoke on those matters with Reagan’s approval.
His remarks on the Middle East were made to Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko on a different day. He said that “He (Gromyko) was aware that I made them as a U.S. citizen and a Senator but did not reflect the views of the Reagan Administration.”
Percy also said that he preferred to meet with his Jewish constituents in Illinois before meeting with national Jewish leaders in Washington. On Monday, he met with a group of statewide Jewish leaders in Springfield.
CHICAGO LEADERS NOT ENTIRELY PLACATED
The Senator’s attempt to clarify his positions on the Middle East did not entirely placate the Chicago group. Sprayregen said at the press conference that “U.S. interests are served very poorly by any attempt to create a Palestinian state of any sort or to attempt to bring the USSR into the negotiating process.” He said that such a state would introduce Soviet influence into the area and stressed that the PLO terrorists are armed and trained by the USSR.
However, Sprayregen emphasized that the PAC, the coordinating body for Chicago’s 34 major Jewish organizations, was in “broad agreement” with Percy’s goals for peace and “on the whole, this issue in no way undermines our confidence in his ability to serve as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
Schrayer also expressed reservations over Percy’s views. He noted that the Senator had failed to include references to the Arab need to recognize Israel and to reiterate his support for United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 in a letter of clarification sent to all of his constituents this week.
Schroyer characterized an amended version of that letter, to be sent to the JUF for dissemination, which contained those references as “too little and too late.” He said he was unable to get an acceptable answer from Percy on either the propriety or necessity for “carving out of Israel the state that would become part of Jordan.”
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