Middle East Peace Talks

The Palestinians need to realize that the only way the Middle East peace talks will make any progress is for everyone involved to compromise. With the recent election of the Labor-led government under Prime Minister Rabin, the Israeli electorate demonstrated their desire for a change in Israel’s policy regarding both the Palestinians and the occupied West Bank. In ousting the Likud government from power, Israelis have clearly voiced their willingness to begin negotiations of land for peace, which is at the heart of the U.N. Security Council resolution.

The importance of the change in attitude is highly significant and should not be underestimated by the Palestinians. The Israelis took the most important step not at the peace talks, but at the voting booths. This should signal the Palestinians that real progress will only be made if they too tire of intransigence and instruct their own leadership of the need for change.

Since the peace talks began, there has been at least some progress made between the Israelis and almost every Arab delegation. At this point, it seems that the only ones who have not made much effort to compromise with the Israeli delegation are the Palestinians themselves.

DOV GROSSMAN

Los Angeles