Shamir Plays Down Cabinet Disunity, Denies Relations with U.S. Strained

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir now says his Cabinet was unanimous in rejecting the American scenario for a Middle East peace conference.

He also is dismissing media warnings that the failure of Secretary of State James Baker’s peace mission to the region would have serious consequences for U.S.-Israeli relations.

Shamir predicted Monday that Baker would soon resume his diplomatic initiative, which was interrupted Friday by news of his mother’s death in Houston.

But there were ominous rumblings from Washington.

Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) told a television news panel Sunday that the United States might have to review its aid policy to the Middle East if countries there did not agree to hold Arab-Israeli peace talks.

Speaking on the ABC-TV program “This Week With David Brinkley,” Dole said that Middle East countries should take advantage of the “window of opportunity” for peace opened by the Persian Gulf War.

“This is the best shot we’ve had, and if everybody says, ‘Oh, we don’t care to deal this way or this way,’ then I think the United States might take a look at our foreign aid policies and a lot of other policies,” the Republican leader said.

He mentioned no country by name. But last year, Dole proposed that the United States pare its aid to Israel and Egypt by 5 percent across the board. The idea was shot down by the White House, though some believe it was actually a trial balloon inspired by the administration.

GRUMBLING IN CONGRESS REPORTED

Dan Halpren, a knowledgeable Israeli observer and former diplomat, told army radio Monday, in an interview from Washington, that Israel’s settlement policies and its dispute over peace conference modalities could affect future U.S.-Israeli relations.

He said that while there is no reason to fear an erosion of the present levels of aid resulting from political strains between Washington and Jerusalem, there is already “talk” in Congress of responding negatively to Israel’s expected request this fall for massive U.S. government loan guarantees to help absorb immigrants.

Shamir, who briefed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday and spoke to reporters afterward, denied there is any crisis with Washington and insisted his government is unanimous on peace policy.

Responding to local and American media reports that the Bush administration would lay much of the blame for Baker’s lack of success on Israel and might “reassess” its Middle East policy, Shamir said that sort of media speculation had proven groundless in the past and would again.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said Monday that the next U.S. moves in the Middle East would be determined only after Baker, who is in mourning, reports to President Bush on his latest trip.

He conceded, however, that “the results so far have been slim. Obviously, that is somewhat disappointing,” he said.

But Fitzwater dismissed the notion raised by Dole that future U.S. aid would be conditioned by a country’s receptivity to peace negotiations.

“Our emphasis is on the policy side of trying to get an agreement,” Fitzwater said. “We don’t think it’s appropriate to be talking about what would happen if that doesn’t happen or to be threatening anyone.”

‘NOT A GREAT DEAL’ OF PROGRESS

Assessing Baker’s mission to date, Fitzwater said, “While there was some progress made, it obviously was not a great deal. But we want to continue to work with the parties, and that would require not speculating on various statements or commenting on what people had to say.”

The press secretary refused to comment on reported differences in the Israeli Cabinet over concessions to bring about a peace conference.

Shamir claimed Monday that he had no differences with Foreign Minister David Levy on the peace process. But the prime minister failed to support Levy when he was attacked by right-wing ministers at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting for allegedly agreeing to Baker’s ideas about a peace conference.

Israel’s position had been that the proposed conference would serve as a brief ceremonial prelude to parallel direct talks Israel would conduct with the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors.

But Levy reportedly accepted Baker’s suggestion Friday that if the direct talks became deadlocked, the conference could be reconvened after six months, though only with the consent of all parties.

Shamir denied this, insisting, “Levy did not agree to a reconvening conference” in his talks with Baker. He said the full Cabinet was in agreement that the conference would be a “onetime event” that would cease to exist once direct talks began.

(JTA correspondent Howard Rosenberg in Washington contributed to this report.)