No Basis to Reports That USSR is Seeking to Renew Ties with Israel

Reports that the Soviet Union was making certain moves toward the eventual re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel were said to be without substance at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. Shlomo Avineri, director general of the Foreign Ministry reported in fact that Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko told U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance at their recent meeting in Moscow that the Soviet Union planned no change in its attitude toward Israel.

(In Washington today, State Department spokesman Hodding Carter said he had no information on Gromyko’s alleged remark to Vance. “All I can say is that it is a matter between the two countries,” he said.)

Avineri made the disclosure after Health Minister Victor Shemtov of Mapam proposed that Israel approach the Soviets with an offer to restore diplomatic ties. Defense Minister Shimon Peres appeared to be making a similar proposal in a newspaper interview published last Friday. But Peres was silent on the subject at the Cabinet meeting. Avineri noted that recent Soviet public statements on the Middle East have been less abrasive toward Israel than in the past. Newspapers here reported from Washington that American officials expected a Russian move aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.

Avineri said that the U.S. reacted favorably to Israel’s tough warnings to Syria and the PLO last week to end their attacks on Christian strongholds in southern Lebanon. He said Washington believed the Israeli stance influenced the Syrians to impose restraints on the Palestinian terrorists with the result that the region has been relatively quiet in recent days.