Sir, - The Irish public is ill-served by Robert Fisk's feature, "War without End" (Magazine, August 11th) containing as it did so many distortions of fact. Moreover, coming in the wake of the suicide bombing of a crowded pizza restaurant in central Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including a mother, father and three children from one family, the publication of the article at this time plumbed the depths of insensitivity.
In the aftermath of such carnage, what is called for is sympathy and support for the Israeli people.
Mr Fisk chooses to forget that under the Oslo accords of 1993 the Palestinian Authority committed itself to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and renounced the use of terrorism and other acts of violence.
He also peddles the nonsense that the Camp David summit last year was simply a trap set for the Palestinians. If that were the case, why did Chairman Arafat not simply say: "I do not accept the Israeli proposals, which do not meet the Palestinian minimum. I do not accept the way that President Clinton is mediating between us and Israel. I therefore call on the representatives of the European Union to join the mediation effort and discuss my counter-proposals, which I will present at another summit"? He did not do that. Instead he sanctioned a campaign of terror and violence against Israel. That is the key issue, not Israel's proposals at Camp David.
Israel remains committed to finding a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in general and the Palestinian issue in particular.
With this goal in mind, Israel unconditionally supports the recommendations of Senator George Mitchell's Report (April 2001) emphasising that the critical sequence of factors in any progress are: an unconditional cessation of violence; a series of confidence-building measures which include a meaningful "cooling-off period" and a condemnation of incitement to violence in all its forms; and the resumption of negotiations.
Peace can be built only through mutual dialogue, not violence and suicide bombings. It is clear that building peace requires historic compromises on all sides. Israel has already demonstrated its willingness to make far-reaching compromises in the service of peace, and expects the Palestinian leadership to do the same. - Yours, etc.,
Boaz Rodkin, ChargΘ D'Affaires, Embassy of Israel, Dublin 4.