President-elect Ronald Reagan indicated at a Los Angeles press conference today that he felt it would be improper for him to meet with Israeli Premier Menachem Begin during the latter’s 10-day visit to the U.S. beginning Monday. Begin is scheduled to meet with President Carter in Washington Nov. 13.
Several times during his press conference his first since he was elected Tuesday — Reagan pointed out that Carter continues to be the nation’s chief executive and that he himself would not want to do anything that would give the impression of intervening in Presidential affairs until his inauguration next January. Reagan’s remark about Begin came in answer to a question. Reports from Israel yesterday indicated that Begin was interested in meeting with Reagan.
He was also asked if he still considered the Palestine Liberation Organization to be a terrorist organization, which he so characterized during his campaign. “Yes,” he replied, “I think the PLO has proven it is a terrorist organization. it separate the PLO from the Palestinian refugees. No one elected the PLO.”
Asked about pursuing the Camp David process, Reagan said he would do whatever the U.S. can do to help bring about a peace settlement between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Reagan called the press conference to announce the make-up of the interim Foreign Policy Advisory Board for the transition period. It includes three Democrats — Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington, Sen. Richard Stone of Florida who was defeated in the primaries and will not be returning to the Senate, and Washington lawyer William Bennett Williams.
The Republican National Committee announced 10 days ago that Reagan would name those Democrats to his transition team and it was assumed therefore that they had agreed to serve on it. Jackson has been mentioned in some quarters as a possible Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense in a Reagan Cabinet and Stone as a possible Undersecretary of State.
The interim foreign policy advisory team also includes former President Gerald Ford, Sen. Howard Baker (R.Tenn.), who will be Senate Majority Leader in the new Congress, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Undersecretary of State Eugene Rostow, Gen. Alexander Haig and Richard Allen, Reagan’s chief foreign policy advisor.
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