Sir, - If the situation in Israel was as simple as Johnny Couchman (October 28th) implies, surely the crisis would have been solved years ago. In the midst of the television blitz and talking-heads mediathon it is sometimes difficult to get the facts.
At the Camp David summit two months ago, Mr Barak offered more than any other Israeli prime minister: constitution of a Palestinian state, sovereignty over 95 per cent of the West Bank and Gaza, and control of a large part of East Jerusalem. Mr Arafat didn't think this was sufficient and wanted to hold out in order to achieve the lofty ambition of "a right to return". His people, as he calls them, have paid the price for his failure to choose pragmatism over pride, and they will continue to do so, no matter how unfair it appears to us outsiders.
The Israeli people can at least choose their leaders; the Palestinians would do well to change theirs. - Yours, etc.,
Patrick Finn, Rue Ambroise Croizat, St Ouen, France.