Walzer Speaks on Israel

The Camp David agreement may cause a considerable division in the Israeli government because it will lead to the loss of certain autonomous Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Michael L. Walzer, professor of government, said last night at a lecture entitled "Israeli Politics After Camp David" in Phillips Brooks House.

"The choice (for Israel) will be peace or settlement," he said at the lecture sponsored by Harvard/Radcliffe Hillel, adding that he thinks the Israelis will not choose to fight for its settlements on the West Bank.

Walzer said that while the Camp David meetings between Egyptian and Israeli leaders reached "substantive agreements" on the disposition of the Sinai region, they only set procedures for future negotiations of the West Bank issue.

The "procedural agreements," Walzer said, significantly ensure two things: Negotiations on the specifics of a West Bank agreement will begin one month after the signing of the Camp David accord and these negotiations will establish an "autonomous Arab authority" in the area, although the exact nature of its sovereignty is unclear under the Camp David agreement.

Walzer said that although Israelis could possibly remain in the area under the new authority, any Israeli settlements would have to relinquish their autonomous status.