The deception is so palpable that even former Deputy br

Mayor Miron Benvenisti was forced to demur. Benvenisti wrote: br

“The conference sponsors overlooked one little thing. The basis br

for their discussions was absolutely invalid. There is no com- br

parison at all between Jerusalem’s problems and those of Ameri- br

can mixed cities. The minority leaders in America do not deny br

the legitimacy of the government and refuse to participate in its br

operations. To the contrary, they fight to integrate into the rul- br

ing apparatus . . . they seek a bigger slice of the American na- br

tional cake. . . . The communal tension in Jerusalem stems from br

the fact that the Arab minority does not recognize the legitimacy br

of the government that was imposed on it. . . . While the minor- br

ities in U.S. cities seek ‘good government,’ the Arab minority br

seeks ‘self-government’” (Kol HaIr, April 25, 1980).

It would be comforting to think that the nonsense is limited br

to the L.L.L. (Labor, Left, Liberal) of Israel. Alas, Begin, the br

Likud, (a block of political parties in alignment with Begin), br

and the “nationalists” all share, to varying degrees, “the br

Myth.” Thus, despite riots, demonstrations, clashes, Land br

Days, polls that show Israeli Arabs denying the legitimacy of br

Israel, university students openly supporting the PLO on cam- br

pus, and the election of a mayor of Nazareth who backs the br

PLO, Mr. Begin’s new adviser on Arab affairs, Binyamin Gur- br

Arye, could calmly declare (April 25, 1980): “All the talk about br

radicalization of Israeli Arabs in their relation to the State of br

Israel is baseless.”

Mr. Begin’s old adviser on Arab affairs, Moshe Sharon, in br

an interview with Maariv (February 2, 1979), told the following br

anecdote to illustrate the prime minister’s view of solving the br

problem: “Mr. Begin, as I told you, is a liberal. I often heard br

him chastise a minister: ‘What?! Your ministry discriminates br

against Israeli Arabs?!’”

Moshe Sharon himself is a classic example of the frustra- br

tions that make strong men weep and throw up their hands in br

despair. In the same interview he made the following explosive br

points: “A young Arab, intellectual and law-abiding, told me br

openly: ‘When an Egyptian MIG is shot down, no Israeli Arab br

rejoices. When an Israeli Phantom falls—no Arab is sad.’ That, br

to put it mildly, describes the hostile attitude of Israeli Arabs to br

the state.”