Labor, Likud Leaders to Discuss Possibilities of Forming a National Unity Government

The leaders of the Labor Alignment and Likud were to hold their first meeting tonight to discuss the possibilities of forming a national unity government. But the opposing parties seem hopelessly divided over key policy issues, as spokesmen for each made clear even before the meeting was held.

One of the most sensitive issues is the Likud’s government’s massive settlement drive on the West Bank Deputy Premier David Levy told a crowd of 50,000 Orthodox Jews at the new West Bank township of Emanuel today that “We will not allow our desire for a unity government to bring us to foresake our line on settlements.”

But Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin declared on a radio interview that Labor’s participation in a unity government was absolutely conditional on a modification of settlement policies that adhered, in effect, to the “Allon Plan ” for the West Bank.

The plan, first outlined by the late Labor Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, would allow no new settlements in the heavily Arab-populated areas of the territory . Likud is intent on planting Jewish settlements in the midst of the Arab population.

Labor will be represented at tonight’s meeting by party chairman Shimon Peres, Rabin, Haim Bar-Lev, Moshe Shahal and Haim Zadok, The Likud negotiators are Premier-designate Yitzhak Shamir, Levy, Defense Minister Moshe Arens and Justice Minister Moshe Nissim.

In his formal letter accepting Shamir’s invitation to talk, Peres wrote last night that his party rejected the nation of joining the “present” government but was prepared to discuss the idea of joining Likud, under Shamir, in a government with a new policy platform.

Shamir, in his reply, suggested that the two sides end their public arguments and get down to private discussions to see if a common platform could be worked out. The media quoted Shamir today as saying that it would become apparent within a day whether an agreement can be reached. He thought the chances were “slender” but they have to be exhausted, the reports said.

A number of Likud MKs have already accused Labor of entering the talks “with ultimatums” and “without clean hands. ” Similar accusations are likely to be hurled back from the opposition camp. Most observers believe the prospects that a unity government will emerge from the talks are very poor. The only certainty, they say, is that each side will attempt to blame the other for failure.