Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the American Jewish Committee here Sunday that the current Israeli government is divided 50-50 on the issue of an international peace conference and should go to the people for new elections to decide the issue. Peres made the remarks during the AJCommittee’s annual conference. He said Israel needs a responsible government and a responsible opposition. It is better to have two views in one democracy than one view in no democracy, Peres quipped.
Peres postponed his current visit to the U.S. by one day in the face of a government crisis resulting from his and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s differing policies on an international peace conference.
AGREEMENT ON TWO ELEMENTS
All the parties — Shamir, Peres and the U.S. government — agree on two things: the Soviet Union must reestablish relations with Israel and change its policy on Jewish emigration before it can participate in an international conference, Peres said.
The international conference is necessary to legitimize the entry of Arab countries into negotiations, Peres said, but it cannot replace direct negotiations.
Palestinian representation is one of the major stumbling blocks in the hypothetical conference. Peres said the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) newly reaffirmed hard-line stand makes it impossible to negotiate with them. Rather, Peres told the AJCommittee that key Palestinian leaders in the West Bank are disenchanted with the PLO and are looking to a Jordanian option.
AJC SUPPORTS CONFERENCE, TERRITORIAL COMPROMISE
The AJCommittee Sunday passed a resolution in support of an international peace conference and territorial compromise. The statement noted recent developments that have given new momentum to the peace process.
“Of particular significance is the breakthrough reportedly achieved in secret negotiations between King Hussein of Jordan and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel,” the statement said.
“The procedural agreement, which was achieved with the help of American officials, meets Jordan’s need for an international umbrella by having the United Nations Secretary-General invite the five permanent members of the Security Council to convene a conference based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. To meet Israel’s requirement that negotiations be direct and bilateral, the procedural agreement states that the conference will invite ‘geographical bilateral’ committees to conduct the actual negotiations.”
The statement called on the U.S. to provide guarantees that outside parties will not impose a solution on the parties to the conflict. The AJCommittee also opposed including the PLO in the talks and supported Peres’ position on participation of the Soviet Union.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
