In preparation for Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s visit to Washington next month, Likud officials are said to be reviewing various proposals he could make to advance the peace process, including possibly limiting Israeli control over the Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli daily Al Hamishmar, senior Likud officials see no security benefit to holding on to the Gaza Strip. A willingness to withdraw gradually from the territory could be advantageous if Likud is interested in retaining the West Bank, the thinking reportedly goes.
Shamir is tentatively scheduled to meet with President Bush on Dec. 11.
Senior officials here believe the Bush administration is already formulating a policy to direct the attention of the present anti-Iraq coalition toward the Palestinian problem once the Persian Gulf crisis is settled.
An Israeli initiative would serve as a timely counterweight to this effort, Al Hamishmar pointed out.
One proposed solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the paper said, is an international conference to establish a demilitarized Palestinian entity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to the paper, the idea was raised during the preparatory discussions that preceded Bush’s meeting in Geneva last Friday with Syrian President Hafez Assad.
Bush was said to have agreed to a meeting with Shamir in Washington in order to mollify negative Israeli and American Jewish reaction to his talks with Assad.
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