I was under the impression that the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were designed to resolve the territorial disputes between the two sides (“Peace parley,” WJW, Aug. 1). Instead Mahmoud Abbas in his recent trip to Egypt established his minimal demands with the statement that no land acquired after the defensive 1967 war could remain as part of Israel and all of the 650,000 Israeli Jews living there had to be removed leaving the area completely Judenrein, including all of East Jerusalem with the Temple Mount.
At the same time Secretary of State John Kerry in comments reported in both Israeli and Arab newspapers told a congressman that under any peace agreement Israel would retain 85 percent of its largest settlements, not defining what is meant by large. This lapse of exactitude could imply that anywhere from 80,000 to 150,000 Jews would have to be expelled.
The dichotomy between the two positions is obvious but even more disturbing is that John Kerry has decided that it is his prerogative to establish the final borders of the state of Israel.
NELSON MARANS, Silver Spring
