To Our Readers

The long-awaited agreement on Israel's redeployment in Hebron--according to a plan not materially different from the one concluded between the Palestinian Authority and the previous Israeli government--is a positive development. It signifies a continuing Israeli and Palestinian commitment to move along the path of accommodation. But the agreement also offers troubling evidence of the centrality of Israel's dedication to the maintenance of even the most marginal of its settlements, exemplified by its success in establishing extraordinary protections for Hebron's some 450 settlers.

The letter reproduced below offers eloquent testimony to the hazards created by settlement expansion. We can only hope that the authors' sober expression of concern will be heeded--not only in Jerusalem but in Washington as well.