Israel's Fateful Hour

Abstract

At 19th session of Palestine National Council (PNC) in Algiers last November, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) took a historic and unexpected step: it offered Israel peace based on mutual recognition within framework of a two-state solution. Indeed, for first time in its history, PLO accepted principle of partition based on U.N. Resolution 181. In doing so, PLO broke with one of central tenets of Palestine National Charter, which states that the partition of Palestine in 1947 and establishment of State of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of passage of time, because they were contrary to will of Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland. Several weeks after PNC meeting in Algiers, PLO chairman Yasir Arafat clarified PLO's policy at a press conference in Geneva where he explicitly recognized Israel and called on Israeli leaders to join with him in finding a formula that would end conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews. The United States, which for 13 years has refused to talk with PLO, responded by agreeing to establish a limited dialogue with organization. Stunned Israeli leaders, who were in throes of Who is a Jew? controversy, denounced U.S. move and angrily dismissed Arafat's statement as a mere propaganda ploy by an unrepentant terrorist steadfast in his dedication to Israel's destruction.