Bush is Optimistic About Mideast Peace

Vice President George Bush said Thursday that he has returned from his 10-day trip to the Middle East with a “more optimistic feeling” about the prospects for peace in the region.

Bush said this feeling was based on the talks he had in Israel, Jordan and Egypt; on the agreement by the leaders of those three countries to a statement of five common goals for negotiations, and what he called Israeli Premier Shimon Peres’ “historic and courageous’ trip to Morocco for a meeting with King Hassan II.

The Vice President discussed his Mideast trip at a press conference with seven American Jewish and Israeli journalists in his White House office.

Although Bush was accompanied in Israel by a video camera crew to film his visit for use in his upcoming campaign for the Presidency, he denied that his Mideast trip was political. He maintained he went to the Mideast to advance United States foreign policy. “Anything I do domestically” or in foreign affairs “is put in an 88 context,” he said. He added that if the trip helps his political prospects, then “great.”

ENCOURAGED BY TALKS WITH PERES

Bush spoke glowingly of his meetings with Peres. “I am just more convinced than ever of his determination to try to move the peace process forward,” the Vice President said. He said he did not feel this would change when Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir becomes Premier in October. “I felt convinced when he (Shamir) told me he really wanted things to move forward,” Bush said.

However, Bush added that there were domestic problems in Israel which he saw when he met with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and witnessed the differences between Labor and Likud. He did not elaborate.

Bush said the statement of common goals, which he read before leaving Cairo Wednesday, was first brought up in Jordan and then agreed to by Israel and Egypt after negotiating changes. Peres, King Hussein of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak all agreed to the five points listed.

The first goal is that “a just and lasting peace is essential, urgent and can only be reached through negotiations.” The second goal is that “negotiations should produce peace treaties between the parties based on the recognition of the right of all states and peoples in the region to a life of peace and security.”

The third goal said that “Negotiations must take into account the security needs of Israel, the security needs of all other states in the region and the aspirations of the Palestinian people.” Negotiations to resolve the Palestinian problem within “the context of a relationship between Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza” was the fourth goal.

The fifth point is that the U.S. believes “in the importance of face-to-face negotiations. We recognize that direct negotiations may involve the framework of an international conference or forum structured in such a way that permits progress and not paralysis, agreement, not dictates.”

Bush conceded that none of the principles were new. But, “the fact that you get three Middle Eastern leaders agreeing on significant points regarding the Middle East peace process is more than useful, it’s quite good,” he said.

SAYS HUSSEIN SEEKS A SOLUTION

The Vice President said he was also encouraged by his talks with Hussein, who he said “wants to see a solution. I feel it more now.” He said Hussein was “discouraged” by the U.S. failure to go through with a promised arms deal. Bush indicated that his reception was warmer in Jordan than it might have been six months ago when Congress blocked the arms sale.

Bush said it was a “good thing” for Hussein to see Peres’ visit to Morocco and see that “the sky did not fall” in the Arab world. The Arab reaction “was not all negative, except for (Syrian President) Hafez Assad,” Bush said. “Before the landing gear was fully underneath the Prime Minister’s plane, he dumped all over the meeting. But he was alone.”

However, Bush stressed that Hussein still feels he needs Palestinian participation and an “international umbrella” in order to begin negotiations. Bush said the U.S. supports providing this “not as a substitute for direct negotiations” but as a catalyst” to get things going.

In this, Bush said the U.S. would support Hussein’s requirement that the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council be included. He denied that this was in variance with the Reagan Administration policy to keep the Soviet Union out of the Mideast peace process. “We would be very wary of the Soviets having a major role,” he added.

LESS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT PALESTINIANS

The Vice President was less optimistic about the Palestinians with whom he met in Jerusalem. He said some still continue to support Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat while others agree with Hussein that Arafat was responsible for the failure of Hussein’s efforts to get a joint Palestinian – Jordanian delegation for negotiations with Israel.

He said he could not get a good “reading” of the Palestinians since they argued with each other as well as with the Americans.

Bush said the U.S. welcomes the upcoming talks between Israel and the Soviet Union on restoring diplomatic relations. “I hope it will lead to the exit of more Soviet Jews,” he said.

He said the only “disappointment” of his trip was that the dispute over Taba was not settled. He said while the Taba dispute had not been a goal of his visit, he believes his visit to Israel and Egypt may have moved it closer to settlement.

Bush said he was “delighted” that eight American Jewish leaders accompanied him from Washington to Israel. He said they called themselves “the gang of eight” and he was surprised how well they knew the Israeli leaders. He said they attended many of his meetings in Israel. He said they “enriched my understanding” of the places he visited in Israel and the talks he had there. “I wish we could have had 80,” he said.

The eight, who paid their own way for a trip to Israel and did not accompany Bush to Jordan and to Egypt, were: Gordon Zacks, Jacob Stein, Ivan Novick, Paul Berman, Joseph Gildenhorn, Barbara Gold, Richard Goldman and Jay Kislak. All were people Bush consulted in planning his trip to Israel, and all are members of the National Jewish Coalition.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 1988 ELECTIONS

Bush conceded that he could have the same problem in his Presidential campaign that President Reagan had with Jewish voters over his support of is sues backed by the Christian right.

“I would like to end up in the same position the President ends up in terms of support for Israel,” he added. He said that Israeli leaders, including Peres and Shamir, “say they have never had a better friend in the White House.”

Bush said he knows that Jews do not vote on the issue of Israel alone and that any Republican because of domestic issues and traditional voting patterns would find it “very hard to overcome” the usual majority vote for Democratic Presidential candidates.

RESPECTS THE POWER OF THE JEWISH LOBBY

Asked about criticism of the power of the Jewish lobby as demonstrated by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Bush replied, “We are respectful of that power as we are about textiles as we are about tax reform” and other issues.

Noting the credit AIPAC has been given in blocking the Jordanian arms sale, Bush said, “That does not mean we are not going to keep on doing what is right for peace in the Middle East. Sometimes we will succeed and sometimes we will have the overwhelming support of the Jewish community” and other times they will oppose the Administration.

Asked about Jerusalem, Bush said he would “encourage negotiations that will resolve the issue.” But, he quickly added, “I, for one, don’t want to see Jerusalem divided.”