Israeli, Lebanese Envoys Disagree on Mideast Outlook : Talk: The two consuls general differ on prospects for settlement in their speech in Anaheim, moderated by Costa Mesa Councilman Peter F. Buffa.

Against a background of increased tension along their mutual border, representatives of Israel and Lebanon disagreed Saturday about the prospects for peace in the Middle East.

The two consuls general in Los Angeles, Farid Abboud of Lebanon and Ran Ronen of Israel, agreed that the region was at a critical period but differed sharply on the prospects for a comprehensive settlement.

The discussion, “Middle East Peace: Issues and Perspectives,” was sponsored by the Arab-American Republican Club of Orange County and moderated by Costa Mesa City Councilman Peter F. Buffa.

The speakers addressed a crowd of more than 250 at the Anaheim Marriott hotel, including a significant number of local Jews. Among those in the crowd were prominent local partisans of both Arab and Israeli positions, including Sami Odeh, brother of slain Palestinian activist Alex Odeh, and the Rev. Frank Eiklor, head of Costa Mesa-based Shalom International.

Perhaps symbolically, the three speakers appeared at separate podiums, at the request of club officials. Partisans arranged themselves in the different sections of seats in front of each of the podiums at which the Lebanese and Israeli diplomats spoke.

“Why do we sit so far away?” asked Ronen. “We’re talking about peace. Let’s sit together.”

Ronen, a former brigadier general in the Israeli air force, said that the people and the government of Israel “sincerely want peace.”

Speaking from personal experience, Ronen said, “the more you fight, the more you long for peace.”

Ronen said he was optimistic about the possibility of a peace settlement, but acknowledged that “we’re cautious” in negotiations. He said he hoped “that the whole world will at least understand our concern.”

Abboud also said that the region is now at a “decisive crossroad,” but said there were no grounds for optimism.

He said that the prospects for peace were “remote, at best.”

Abboud said that the Arab nations in the region had moved from a “stiff ideological position” to a more flexible attitude.

He was critical of the Likud government for failing to recognize the “fundamental rights” of Palestinians in the occupied territories. He was also critical of Israel’s refusal to include the United Nations in the current negotiations.

Abboud noted that the Israeli government had said it has no further territorial designs on Lebanon, apart from the so-called “security zone” that it now occupies. “It’s good to know that you’re not on the menu.”

For the past several weeks, tensions have steadily escalated along the Israel-Lebanon border.

On Feb. 15, infiltrators attacked an Israeli army training camp near Kfar Sava with axes, knives and pitchforks. The infiltrators killed three recent Russian immigrants and wounded a training officer before escaping.

The next day, the Israelis launched air strikes against Palestine Liberation Organization bases and refugee camps in southern Lebanon. At the same time, helicopter gunships attacked a column of vehicles of the Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah, the Party of God, killing the group’s leader, Sheik Abbas Moussawi, his wife and 5-year-old son.

Officials have said since that the assassination of Moussawi had been planned by Israel as early as December as a result of failed negotiations with Hezbollah to repatriate prisoner Ron Arad of the Israeli air force.

In retaliation for the killing of Moussawi, Hezbollah guerrillas began raining long-range Katyusha rockets into northern Israel. Of the 30 missiles that landed in the area, only one did any any damage, hitting a bus station in Kiryat Shemona.

In response, Israeli ground troops moved deeper into Lebanon, beyond the so-called “security zone” Israel already occupies, crashing through United Nations peacekeeping barricades. The column, composed of 17 tanks and 22 armored personnel carriers, seized two Shiite villages Israel believed to have been the launch site for the mobile missile attack, an action which cost the lives of two Israeli soldiers. Four guerrillas were killed and 37 wounded, including eight Nepalese and Fijian members of the U.N. force.

After an Israeli pullout from the villages, Hezbollah guerrillas returned to villages, launched 14 more Katyushas, one of which killed a 5-year-old girl on Haganot Hagalil, an Israeli collective farm. The Israelis returned fire with 155-millimeter howitzers. Within Israel, another recent Russian immigrant was stabbed to death outside Tel Aviv by a Palestinian, who was then shot four times by a bystander.

Leaders on both sides of the border have now called for a de-escalation of hostilities, particularly in light of the next round of Mideast peace talks, which are scheduled to begin this week in Washington.

* ROCKET FIRE HALTED: Hezbollah called off its attacks on Israel Saturday. A9