Peace Talks

Re “Israelis Try to Shore Up Support in L.A. for Peace Talks,” Sept 19:

In your article I am quoted, referring to a recent national survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee, as saying that the study reveals “a growing mistrust of Palestinian intentions.” The quote is accurate, but only part of what I said and thus potentially misleading. On the one hand, by margins of more than 4 to 1, American Jews continue to support the overall Israeli approach to the peace talks and by margins of 3 to 1, or better, the specific Palestinian and Syrian tracks. At the same time, compared with two years ago, when the Israeli-PLO accord was signed at the White House, mistrust of the Palestinians has grown, particularly because of terrorism.

But these two sets of facts don’t rule each other out. From the responses to the survey’s many other questions, what clearly emerges is that a very substantial majority of American Jews both support the peace process and what should seem obvious--the right of the duly elected government of Israel to make the hard decisions pertaining to Israel’s future borders and security.

DAVID A. HARRIS, Executive Director

American Jewish Committee

New York