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UJA-FEDERATION
Arafat Not YaSir
In Quest for Peace
By Tim Boxer
 ICHARD
HOLBROOKE, the former UN ambassador who was chief architect of
the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia, is not
confident of prospects for peace in the Middle East.
In fact, to push for a settlement at this time
between Israelis and Palestinians will actually be perceived as a
victory for the terrorists.
“Arafat isn’t ready to make a
deal,” he stated bluntly.
“It is not possible to make peace with him.
He is a revolutionary. I don’t think he can make a deal. It
doesn’t matter if it’s with Shimon Peres or Ariel
Sharon or anyone else.”
Addressing a UJA-Federation of New York
women’s campaign luncheon at the Pierre Hotel, Holbrooke took a
swipe at President Bush favoring a Palestinian state.
“Any change in our support for Israel will be
interpreted as support for terrorism. If we falter in our support
for Israel, it will get worse. If we have differences with Israel,
those have to be dealt with in private.”
Luncheon chair Renate Zimet opened the
program. Campaign chair Joan Ginsburg welcomed new
supporters of the women’s campaign. Campaign president Lynn
Tobias introduced the guest speaker, mentioning also that his
wife, Kati Marton, is the author of a new book, Hidden
Power, now on the New York Times bestseller list.
“So buy the book!” Holbrook told the ladies
at lunch. Now that’s a supportive spouse!
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