Shulamit Aloni Calls for Talks In Middle East

Shulamit Aloni, a member of the Israeli Parliament and former Israeli Cabinet member, said last night she does not "see any reason" for Israel not to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization if the PLO recognized Israel.

"We shouldn't say we won't negotiate with terrorists--many heads of state of countries now in the United Nations were once terrorists," Aloni told a Science Center gathering sponsored by H-R Hillel and the United Jewish Appeal.

"But the question is if we can negotiate with somebody who desn't recognize the very right of Israel to exist," Aloni said. "This is something Israel can't do."

Aloni said a majority of Israelis now support negotiation with the Arabs. She urged the Israeli government to obtain a mandate for peace by calling elections now, so that the solution of the Palestinian problem would not be postponed any longer.

Otherwise, Aloni predicted, "There will have to be another war to bring people to talk about the things they won't talk about today."