A top Israeli policymaker called Wednesday for the creation of “a united Jewish front” in the United States to counter the “distorted” image of Israel in the American news media following the violent demonstrations and clashes between Palestinian rioters and Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
“I am not talking about a war against the media,” Dr. Yosef Beilin explained. “Everybody can criticize Israel. But to compare Israel with South Africa, it is simply nonsense. Israel is a free, democratic society, while South Africa is racist, a country where a minority is ruling the majority.”
Beilin, who is director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, was referring, among other cases, to an ABC World News Tonight report broadcast Monday night comparing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the administered territories to South Africa’s apartheid policy and its treatment of the black majority.
Beilin said that he felt “furious” upon watching the ABC program. “It is simply unfair to compare Israel with South Africa. There is no comparison whatsoever between the racist regime of that country and the State of Israel.”
‘MUCH WORSE’ THAN THOUGHT
He said that Israel is depicted in the American news media “much worse” than he thought before coming on his current visit to the United States.
The Foreign Ministry official said the dent in Israel’s image is “the price” that Israel is paying for its efforts to quell the demonstrations, which have been raging for the last six weeks. More than 35 Palestinians have been killed in the anti-Israeli riots so far.
Israel was sharply criticized in the world news media for using harsh measures, such as firing live bullets and tear gas, against the demonstrators, mostly youth who pelt Israeli army troops with stones and rocks.
Beilin’s remarks were made at a briefing sponsored by Dor Hemshech, the young leadership division of the World Zionist Organization.
Beilin, who was scheduled to return to Israel Wednesday night, arrived here from Washington, where he attended the annual conference of Israeli consular officials in the United States. While in Washington, he met with various Reagan administration officials.
The director general said that while only two months ago top administration officials believed that no progress in the Mideast peace process was likely to take place in 1988, mainly because of the upcoming presidential election, the impression he received in the course of his talks in Washington this week was that the administration is convinced now that the Mideast peace process must be renewed in 1988.
“In order to change the situation (in the territories) we cannot afford 1988 to be a year of vacation for the peace process,” he said, warning that “if there will be no progress toward peace in the Mideast, we may see a deterioration in the situation.”
Beilin said he believes that sooner or later Israel “will control and quell the demonstrations,” in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. But he stressed that for a lasting solution, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians must be solved, and that only a political solution would end the demonstrations for good.
Israel is willing to negotiate with Jordan’s king Hussein, but not the Palestine Liberation Organization, the official said.
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