Alan Baker, the Israeli ambassador, in his letter, Aug. 19, is critical of Paul Heinbecker's call for Israeli compliance with international law in relation to its illegal settlements, East Jerusalem and Palestinian refugee rights.Mr. Baker blames the conflict on Hezbollah and Hamas. Perhaps it is relevant to remind Mr. Baker that the Arab/Israeli conflict arose from Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their homeland 58 years ago and the subsequent Israeli policies including the illegal occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese land, 39 years ago, that still stands in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions. All this took place long before Hezbollah and Hamas were created. Hezbollah came into being after the brutal Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, that brought about the killing of 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinian innocent civilians. Hamas came about after 1987, with encouragement by Israeli intelligence, to create dissention amongst Palestinians.