Middle-East Quagmire

In his article “A U.S. Plan by Israel, for Israel” (Column Left, May 17), Alexander Cockburn singles out Israel for censure while ignoring that, with the notable exception of Egypt, no Arab nation has ever accepted the legitimacy of Israel’s existence and the need to negotiate directly with Israel.

Israel has always striven to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israel conflict. Finally, in 1978, through the diligent assistance of the United States, Israel and Egypt were able to sign the Camp David Accords, which led to a peace treaty between the two countries and offered a framework for a more comprehensive peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including a negotiated settlement for the status of Judea-Samaria and Gaza.

Unfortunately, instead of sitting down and negotiating peace agreements with Israel, the rest of the Arab world, including Iraq, Syria and Jordan, rejected the Camp David process and turned Egypt into an outcast state. The PLO, which launched a campaign of terror against those Palestinians who in principle accepted the Camp David approach, also short-circuited the peace process.

In its May, 1989, peace initiative, Israel once again demonstrated its willingness to negotiate forthrightly the various issues pertaining to the conflict, both between Arab nations and Israel, and between the Palestinians in the territories and Israel. Another murder campaign was launched by the PLO and Islamic fundamentalist terrorists against Palestinians who did not toe the extremist line. That wave of terror continues to this day, and reached a new peak in April while Baker was in the midst of his peace efforts.

We hope that the United States will now be successful in using its good offices to bring our Arab neighbors into direct negotiations without preconditions with us. Then together we will finally be able to begin the process of creating a genuine and lasting Arab-Israel peace.

TSURIEL RAPHAEL

Deputy Consul General

Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles