A12 About as radical as the Reaganites by Douglas J. Feith Not since Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter in 1980 has an election triggered such consternation from commentators anxious about peace. In fact, his Likud party is in general about as radical as our Republican Party. He approached the negotiating table, however, with a frame of mind different from that of Mr. Carter. Mr. Netanyahu has made clear that, like Mr. Reagan, he understands that negotiations with non-democratic adversaries require cautious realism. One cannot sensibly assume the other side's good faith.
Democratic states can have peace only if they are strong and morally confident.
These are still the themes of the conservative Republican mainstream. Such themes have been roundly ridiculed by journalists, but they helped the United States win the Cold War and Israelis evidently believe they can maximize Israel's chances of peace with security. If it relinquishes the territories generally, its security will be undermined and peace will therefore not be possible. The Israeli left disagrees. Conservatives favored building up U.S. defense resources as the key to peace.