To the Editor:

Roger Cohen ("Hard Mideast truths," Globalist, Feb. 12) does not project Mideast truths but Mideast distortions. His placing the onus for stalemate between Israelis and Palestinians on the Israelis is disturbing and inappropriate, never more so than now when the Palestinians refuse to come to the negotiating table.

His diatribe against Israel falls short on many fronts. He simply ignores repeated Israeli initiatives for peace, which were rejected by the Palestinians. He ignores the fact that Israel offered to dismantle settlements in 2000, actually evacuated all the settlements in Gaza, and is ready to leave many of the settlements in the West Bank, but only in exchange for real peace and compromise from the Palestinians.

He minimizes Palestinian rejectionism and the preaching of hatred against Israel. And he underplays the security threats against Israel, particularly from a nuclear Iran.

Mr. Cohen's distortions lead him to misread American policy. The United States does not have a zero-sum approach to the conflict simply favoring Israel. The U.S., under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has been seeking a two-state solution.

Israel receives great support from the administration, Congress and the American people because it is a democratic ally of the U.S. that has always sought peace with its neighbors.