Your “A Questionable Move” in the April 19 issue should have been more accurately headed, “A Questionable Editorial.”

It made at least two wrong assumptions. The first was that the United States should be a “fair broker” between Israel, a reliable democratic ally, and the Palestinian Authority, an autocratic anti-American regime. For moral and strategic reasons, Israel is a better bet than Arafat’s kleptocracy.

The second was that even if Israel relinquished all territory it seized in a defensive war, the conflict would be resolved. Unfortunately, by word and deed, Israel’s adversaries demonstrate that they would be satisfied only by Israel’s disappearance.

As for your citing a request by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the United States to pay for Israel’s withdrawal, I challenge Defense News to offer any corroboration that this matter was discussed at all during Sharon’s visit.

And finally, your appeal to “cooler heads in the U.S. Congress” will surely go unheeded. The Congress, in bipartisan fashion, for good and sufficient reasons, can be counted upon to continue its principled support for a valued ally in our own war against terrorism.

Morris J. Amitay

Washington