Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens indicated Monday that the United States and Israel share “common ground” on the need to ease tensions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But after meeting with Secretary of State James Baker for nearly two hours, Arens gave no hint of Israel’s attitude toward proposals that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization both make concessions to bring this about.
Arens stressed that Israel wants to reduce tensions, but he pointed out that it is “not easy” to do this.
Baker told reporters that he and Arens “considered various reinforcing and reciprocal steps which might be taken to defuse the tension” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But he did not give any details on the U.S. proposals, which reportedly ask Israel to release some of the Palestinians arrested during the 15-month-old uprising and reopen schools in the territories.
In turn, the PLO reportedly will be asked to bring about an end of violent demonstrations in the territories and to block attempts by some of its member factions to infiltrate Israel form southern Lebanon.
The request to the PLO will be made by Robert Pelletreau, the U.S. ambassador in Tunisia, at the next formal U.S.-PLO meeting, which State Department spokesman Charles Redman said Monday will take place in the next few weeks.
Arens’ meeting with Baker was the first since new governments were elected in the United States and Israel. Baker said he was renewing an acquaintance that goes back to when Arens was the Israeli ambassador to Washington and Baker was President Reagan’s chief of staff.
MEETINGS WITH BUSH AND QUAYLE
The State Department visit by Arens was followed by separate meetings at the White House with President Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft.
Bush and Arens met for 30 minutes. Afterward, Arens said the two “didn’t arrive at any finalized positions,” leaving that instead to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who will be meeting with Bush in early April.
Baker said his meeting with Arens focused on the Middle East peace process and how the two countries can work together to bring about direct negotiations.
“President Bush and I are firmly committed to continuing the historic United States-Israeli partnership and to do all we can to assure Israel’s security and economic well-being.”
He said this is because Israel is “not only a friend, but an ally.” Israel, he added, “must feel secure if we are going to make progress toward peace in the Middle East.”
Arens said the meeting helped build “a basis of understanding between us on how we can proceed.”
The Bush administration had advertised the meeting as part of the process it needs for formulating its policy on the Middle East. Baker said that both Bush and he are “looking forward” to meeting with Shamir when he comes to Washington.
The Arens visit is laying the groundwork for Shamir, who is expected to bring his own peace initiative to Washington. The Shamir plan is believed to be a new version of the Camp David Accords, which call for negotiations for Palestinian autonomy, to be followed after several years by talks on the final status of the territories.
The Bush administration also seems to support this gradual approach. Baker’s proposals for concessions by Israel and the PLO are in line with the perceived effort by the Bush administration to convince the PLO to allow Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to negotiate with Israel.
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.
