3 From Knesset Will Attend PLO Talks

Three members of the Israeli Parliament flew to Paris on Tuesday to attend a conference on Middle East peace with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization despite an Israeli ban on talks with the PLO.

“I think this law is an embarrassing law, a damaging law, a law of a frightened state lacking self-confidence and courage,” said Ora Namir, a member of the Knesset who belongs to the center-left Labor Party. She referred to a 1986 law that bans contacts with “terrorist organizations.”

“But a law is a law, and even if I do not like it, I have to do my utmost not to violate the law,” Namir said. She declined to say whether she would sit with the PLO delegates at the conference, which is to deal with Europe’s role in the quest for Middle East peace.

The other two legislators to leave for the conference were Arye Eliav, also of Labor, and Shulamit Aloni, leader of the leftist opposition Citizens’ Rights Movement.