Abba Eban

The political career of veteran Israeli leader Abba Eban came to a sudden end today when the Labor Party denied the prominent dove a top spot on its list for November general elections. "One of the most important chapters of his life has ended. It's the end of his political activity in Israel," said Minister for Immigrant Absorption Yaacov Tsur.

Abba Eban, the Israeli diplomat and author whose career spanned the Jewish state's turbulent founding and a generation of warfare with Arab neighbors, and whose early views on conflict with the Palestinians proved wrenchingly prescient, died Sunday at age 87. Eban, who died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv, was respected by friend and adversary alike for his eloquence, intellectual rigor and tireless advocacy of Israel's cause in the international arena.

In some other country, for some other man, there might have been farewell speeches and maybe even a few tears to mark the official end of an illustrious parliamentary career spanning nearly 30 years. But this was Israel, and this was Abba Eban. And not even the journalists, who are usually supersensitive to such things, paid much more than cursory attention on Wednesday as the 11th--and almost certainly Eban's last--Knesset held its final scheduled session.

I would like to commend The Times for its Sept. 11 editorial, "Arafat Disappoints--Again." Your assessment of Yasser Arafat and his attitude toward peace negotiations was right on. As Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said of the Palestinians in general, Arafat never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. I believe that it is becoming more apparent to the world that Arafat is more committed to the destruction of Israel than he is to peace and the betterment of the Palestinian people.

As a rule, the species writer is very different from the species mover-and-shaker. Edward Gibbon shares few traits with the Emperor Constantine. Occasionally, however, historian and history maker are one. This book proves again that Abba Eban is a magnificently multiple personality. The creation of Israel would have been more laborious without him. He was one of the heroes of an astounding birth. He is also the poet of its pains and joys. I'm tempted to call him a circumcised Churchill.

I watched the PBS series "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews." I am full of admiration for each hour of this program which contains so much archival footage and stills, art objects and scenes vividly portraying the long and checkered history of the Jewish people. It is all recounted with great skill by the distinguished Abba Eban. Jack Blankley, Los Angeles

Veteran Israeli statesman Abba Eban testified behind closed doors at the trial of Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician accused of leaking state atomic secrets to a British newspaper. "I was called to testify and complied since the law requires me to do so," Eban told reporters as he emerged from the tightly guarded court building. He refused to provide details of his testimony.

I would like to commend The Times for its Sept. 11 editorial, "Arafat Disappoints--Again." Your assessment of Yasser Arafat and his attitude toward peace negotiations was right on. As Israeli statesman Abba Eban once said of the Palestinians in general, Arafat never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. I believe that it is becoming more apparent to the world that Arafat is more committed to the destruction of Israel than he is to peace and the betterment of the Palestinian people.

Former Israel diplomat and cabinet minister Abba Eban begins work this week on a four-segment, 4 1/2-hour PBS miniseries called "Israel 1947 to 1988: A Personal Witness." Presented by New York's WNET, it will begin where Eban's nine-part series, "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews," ended, with the events leading to Israeli independence in 1948. "Heritage" was broadcast by PBS three times and was shown in more than a dozen countries.

Abba Eban, considered by many to be a leading Israeli dove, advocates a policy which, if applied to other countries, would be condemned as being antithetical to the advancement of human and civil rights ("Israelis & Palestinians," Opinion, March 25). Eban accepts a Tel Aviv University recommendation that "Israeli security can be maintained through continued military deployment but without physical control over all the territories and all their Palestinian inhabitants." One need only ask the Lithuanians, the Poles, and the Czechoslovakians how free and independent they felt/feel with Soviet soldiers occupying their countries.

Suddenly, public television is providing a crash course in the politics and history of the Middle East in the 20th Century. While the subject of "The Prize" entailed the global reach and impact of oil, its center was the volatile Levant. And now, with the five-hour "Israel: A Nation Is Born With Abba Eban" (at 1 p.m. Sunday on KCET-TV Channel 28), the heart of Middle East turmoil is explored with an uncommon humanistic breadth.

As a rule, the species writer is very different from the species mover-and-shaker. Edward Gibbon shares few traits with the Emperor Constantine. Occasionally, however, historian and history maker are one. This book proves again that Abba Eban is a magnificently multiple personality. The creation of Israel would have been more laborious without him. He was one of the heroes of an astounding birth. He is also the poet of its pains and joys. I'm tempted to call him a circumcised Churchill.

Abba Eban, considered by many to be a leading Israeli dove, advocates a policy which, if applied to other countries, would be condemned as being antithetical to the advancement of human and civil rights ("Israelis & Palestinians," Opinion, March 25). Eban accepts a Tel Aviv University recommendation that "Israeli security can be maintained through continued military deployment but without physical control over all the territories and all their Palestinian inhabitants." One need only ask the Lithuanians, the Poles, and the Czechoslovakians how free and independent they felt/feel with Soviet soldiers occupying their countries.

Former Israel diplomat and cabinet minister Abba Eban begins work this week on a four-segment, 4 1/2-hour PBS miniseries called "Israel 1947 to 1988: A Personal Witness." Presented by New York's WNET, it will begin where Eban's nine-part series, "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews," ended, with the events leading to Israeli independence in 1948. "Heritage" was broadcast by PBS three times and was shown in more than a dozen countries.

Abba Eban, the former Israeli foreign minister, urged Tuesday that Israeli officials meet with Palestinian leaders in an effort to end the Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Eban spoke at a private conference here, set up by the Netherlands-based Middle East Dialogues organization, on the Israeli-Palestinian problem. He did not refer to the Palestine Liberation Organization by name, but several PLO officials were present.

As one who treasures my friendship with Philip M. Klutznick, and enjoys a continuous exchange of views and information, I'll observe with great interest how the Jewish "establishment" spokespersons will react to his sage advice as to negotiations with the PLO in Israel's need for peace ("Palestine Needs a State, Too," Op-Ed Page, Jan. 10). Will they distribute Phil's opinion piece to their constituency for independent judgment(s), or skewer his remarks? If the treatment Stanley Sheinbaum and the others in the "Stockholm five" received is any example, Klutznick will be the target of abuse and distortion of purpose.

Israeli statesman Abba Eban gave a ringing, unqualified endorsement to the Mideast peace plans of U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz in Newport Beach on Sunday. In a speech to about 1,000 people at Temple Bat Yahm, Eban called Shultz "the best friend Israel ever had." Eban, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, is chairman of the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He said it is necessary for Israel to have an outside mediator such as Shultz to find peace.

Abba Eban in the opening paragraph of his otherwise unexceptionable review of my book "The Siege" provides a definition of siege which he ascribes to "the dictionary." I wonder whether he would tell your readers which dictionary? It is not the definition provided either by Webster or by the Oxford English Dictionary, and it doesn't represent standard English usage. What it describes--absolutely accurately--is the condition which all besiegers aim to bring about. In my title I use siege in its generally accepted meaning: an effort to cut off the besieged party and bring about its surrender.

In some other country, for some other man, there might have been farewell speeches and maybe even a few tears to mark the official end of an illustrious parliamentary career spanning nearly 30 years. But this was Israel, and this was Abba Eban. And not even the journalists, who are usually supersensitive to such things, paid much more than cursory attention on Wednesday as the 11th--and almost certainly Eban's last--Knesset held its final scheduled session.

The long and distinguished public career of Abba Eban, for the better part of 40 years Israel's most recognizable and eloquent voice in international affairs, is about to end. With next November's Knesset election Eban will retire from political life, not voluntarily but with his honor untarnished and his reputation secure. This week the Labor Party's selection committee refused to allot Eban a top place on the list of candidates that it will present to the voters in the fall.