Presidents Conference Urges Reagan to Send Clear Signal to PLO to Leave Beirut Peacefully

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today urged President Reagan to send a clear signal to the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization besieged in west Beirut by Israeli forces to “quit Beirut” and evacuate Lebanon peacefully or “face the consequences of war.”

In a letter to Reagan, which was released here to day at a press conference, Julius Berman, chairman of the Presidents Conference, wrote:

“Now the moment is at hand to signal clearly to the PLO terrorists: the time has come to quit Beirut, to leave Lebanon. America will tolerate no more evasions, no more equivocations, no more deceptions. Leave in peace or face the consequences of war. This position, we believe, is consistent with the policy that you have followed to date.”

The letter from Berman, on behalf of the 36 constituent member organizations which comprise the Presidents Conference, was drawn up yesterday and was his first formal contact with the Administration since he succeeded Howard Squadron as chairman of the Presidents Conference July 1.

PURPOSE OF THE LETTER

Speaking at a press conference today, Berman explained that the letter was intended to formally reiterate and reconfirm the policies of the Reagan Administration based on statements made by the President and to also restate the position of the American Jewish community. He said the American Jewish community “supports Israel’s actions to defend its citizens and to destroy … the terrorism the PLO represents.”

The letter to Reagan praised his “understanding of the danger posed by the PLO to Israel and to all of the free world,” and for his “clear rejection of any intemational effort, whether in the UN or outside of it, to impose sanctions against Israel for what it has done against the Soviet Union’s best firends and closest allies in the Middle East.”

Berman wrote that he believed the PLO “will continue to refuse to accept Israel’s generous offer of safe exit from Beirut as long as its leaders believe that the United States will restrain Israel from imposing a military solution” to flush out the estimated 5,000-6,000 PLO terrorists trapped in the Lebanese capital.

“As long as the PLO believes it will be protected by our country from the eventual attack, there is no reason for the PLO to accept the honorable terms Israel has offered. Therefore, we believe the PLO must be disabused of the nation that our country is its ultimate guardian and protector,” Berman wrote.

At the same time, the letter praised the President for his “refusal to give credence to the false report that (PLO chief) Yasir Arafat is ready to recognize Israel.” Berman characterized the Arafat document as a “mere propaganda device designed not to advance the cause of peaceful reconciliation among the parties to the conflict but to confound and confuse Americans of good will.”

The Presidents Conference also reiterated its position that is supports the goals of American policy to the conflict in Lebanon, which include the restoration of a central government in Lebanon, the guarantee that Israel’s northern settlements will not be subjected to indiscriminate terrorist shelling, and to get all foreign forces–Syrians, Israelis and the PLO–out of Lebanon.

At his press conference today, Berman reported on his recent visit to Lebanon and Israel to view first hand the Israeli “Peace for Galilee” operation which began June 6. Berman, who was joined by Yehuda Hellman, executive director of the President’s Conference, said that the Lebanon he viewed was different than the impression of Lebanon the electronic and print media has presented.

Berman, who was in Lebanon for a day and a half and in Israel for the other part of his 10-day visit, met with Premier Menachem Begin twice and opposition Labor Party leader Shimon Peres. He said the Premier “reflected an annoyance” over the portrait presented of the Israeli army in Lebanon. “He was quite perturbed and in a sense rightfully so,” Berman said.