Arafat's Nudge

Inching toward recognition ?

Amid the thousands of delegates attending a Communist-sponsored peace conference in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat stood engrossed in animated conversation with a group of three men and a woman. What was remarkable about the informal encounter was that Arafat was chatting with a delegation of four Israelis, two of whom were members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. So far as anyone could remember, it was the first time Arafat had ever met publicly with representatives of the Israeli political establishment.

The four were anything but typical Israeli politicians. One of the Knesset members was Charlie Biton, 29, a Sephardic Jew from Morocco, and the other was Tewfik Toubi, 57, an Israeli Arab. The woman was Felicia Langer, an Israeli lawyer who frequently represents West Bank Palestinians in court. All are members of the pro-Moscow Israeli Communist Party, which is known as RAKAH and is part of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality. During the 20-minute conversation, Arafat said he was happy to meet "the peace forces of Israel."

To Biton, who represents a small but significant protest group within the Sephardic community, Arafat added: "You are well known to me as a fighter for peace. I want you to know that we want friendship with the Jewish people. We are not against the Jewish people. The main fight is for a lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of recognition of Palestinian rights for self-determination."

The views of the four Israelis at the Sofia meeting have practically nothing to do with mainstream Israeli thinking. Many members of Prime Minister Menachem Begin's ruling Likud coalition were furious over the meeting, and one member, Deputy Minister Yoram Aridor, charged that a "grave felony" had taken place. Said one Israeli official: "When a Communist Party member who is loyal to Moscow meets with Arafat, it has no significance except for its public relations value to Arafat."

The real meaning of the meeting lay in the apparent decision of the P.L.O. leader to make so conciliatory a gesture at this time. Even to some Israelis, the incident tended to lend credence to a telling public remark made by Morocco's King Hassan II last week. The P.L.O., said Hassan, was ready at long last to accept the existence of Israel "within secure and recognized boundaries," if Israel would agree to similar recognition of a Palestinian state. Said Uri Avnery, a prominent leftist member of the Knesset: "This has been in the works for years. It was a minor breakthrough in the de facto recognition of Israel by the P.L.O."

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