A Fiction Has a Happy Ending : Israel says it’s ready to talk to its bitter enemy: the PLO

A new element of candor will be in play when the next round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations gets under way in Washington, probably sometime next month. The fiction that Israel is not dealing with the Palestine Liberation Organization will be dropped, for the first time since the U.S.-sponsored Middle East talks began nearly two years ago.

Three key members of the Palestinian delegation have been named as members of the PLO committee overseeing the peace talks with Israel, in effect becoming open PLO officials. Once such a step would almost certainly have produced an explosive Israeli withdrawal. This time Israel’s official response was little more than an indifferent yawn and a reaffirmation of its commitment to the peace process.

Will the new status of the Palestinian delegates make any difference to the progress of the talks? It could, if it means they now have the freedom of action they have long sought and if the recent showdown meeting at PLO headquarters in Tunis between the three Palestinians and the PLO’s high command clarified the Palestinians’ negotiating objectives.

None of this, of course, is assured. Palestinians who have lived under Israeli rule since 1967 have long thought about moving toward political goals different from those of the PLO, whose main support comes from outside the disputed territories. At the moment it’s not clear which of the two camps might be more ready to reach a compromise with Israel. Jerusalem’s willingness to begin dealing directly with the PLO suggests that the PLO may now be seen as more moderate in its approach.

But if a political breakthrough isn’t assured, at least a key psychological shift has taken place. Israel, not with any great pleasure, has indicated it’s ready to deal with its bitter enemy, while Palestinians finally seem to be ready to acknowledge that their maximum political demands are unachievable. Changes like these seem certain to invite a much more active and intense American mediating role in the months ahead. All of which suggests that Secretary of State Warren Christopher may soon be logging a lot of frequent flier miles to, from and around the Middle East.