Defense Minister Shimon Peres said today that statements made at the Palestine National Council meeting in Cairo this week left no doubt that the PLO’s goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. He expressed concern over what he saw as a change of U.S. attitude toward the PLO, particularly the failure of the Administration to oppose an invitation to the PLO to attend a reception for President Carter at the United Nations. (See related story P. 3.)
Addressing students at the agricultural school of the Hebrew University in Rehovoth, Peres said that Farouk Kadoumi, sometimes described as the PLO’s “foreign minister,” made it clear in Cairo that what the Palestinians want is Israel’s destruction and the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan is the beginning of a move to push Israelis into the sea. He said that whoever supports the idea of establishing a Palestinian state is supporting the annihilation of Israel.
He also expressed concern that one of President Carter’s closest aides has said recently that the Palestinian question is a central component of the solution of the Middle East crisis. Peres did not mention the aide by name. Presidential Counsel Robert J. Lipshutz, addressing a meeting of the Zionist Organization of America executive committee in Washington over the weekend, stressed that the Palestinian question could not be ignored.
Peres said the Palestinians have repeated their unbending, extreme attitude which is the destruction of Israel. “I hope that we shall have the power to stand fast and speak clearly without stuttering against this attitude,” he said.
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