PLO Appeals to Israeli Voters: Cast Ballots for Peace on Nov. 1

The Palestine Liberation Organization, in an unprecedented attempt to influence the outcome of Israeli elections on Nov. 1, appealed to the Israeli electorate today to vote for peace.

Two appeals, one to Jewish voters and one to Arab voters, said that because of the 10-month uprising in the occupied territories, the electorate faces a historic opportunity and, by voting for peace, could change the face of the Middle East.

“By favoring the forces which represent the real peace choice, Israelis can contribute to the success of this opportunity and to moving the whole Middle East toward new horizons,” the appeal to Jewish voters said.

“The Israeli voter has a historic chance to help define the shape of his destiny. . . . On Nov. 1, he is not going to an ordinary poll, he is going to a poll on the shape of the future. Either he elects war or he elects peace.”

Khaled Hassan, the PLO official who read the two documents at a news conference in Tunis, said the parties whose ideas most closely match those of the PLO are the Progressive List for Peace and Rakah, the Communist Party of Israel.

But the PLO was not saying for whom the electorate should vote; it just urged Arab voters not to abstain and stressed to Jewish voters the importance of their choice.

He denied that the PLO favored a victory by the Labor Party of Shimon Peres, saying that he saw no great difference between Labor and the right-wing Likud bloc.

“The only difference is that the Likud wants you to drink the poison directly, without anything, not even ice, and the Labor, they give you the poison mixed with honey,” he said.