Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel warned today against trying to give the Palestine Liberation Organization a political “reward” in order to get it to leave Beirut. “Let no one confuse these terrorists with the Palestinian Arabs,” he said at a luncheon of the Overseas Writers, an organization of diplomatic reporters. “Let no one attempt out of a mistaken or twisted sense of obligation to reward the PLO with some political achievement.”
While the Foreign Minister did not specify what he meant by a reward, his remarks were apparently aimed at the efforts to get the United States to drop its promise to Israel not to negotiate or recognize the PLO.
Shamir stressed that Israel’s “Peace for Galilee” campaign was aimed at driving the terrorists from Lebanon and not at solving the problem of the Palestinian Arabs on the West Bank and Gaza. He said Israel knows the Palestinian problem cannot be solved by military action. But he said that if the PLO is forced out of Beirut without any rewards, they will lose a great deal of their strength and both the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab countries will no longer be acting “under the terrorist pressure of this organization.” He said this will create “a better atmosphere for negotiations about the solution of the so-called Palestinian problem.”
Shamir said that negotiations must be renewed soon for the autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza and he hoped that with the PLO no longer a factor, they would be successful and that other Arab countries would join in.
SEEKS TO DOWNPLAY RIFT
Shamir sought to downplay any rift between Israel and the Reagan Administration. Asked if Reagan displayed anger when Shamir met with him at the White House yesterday, he replied: “I can’t say anything about his mood.” Asked if the Administration is losing patience with Israel, Shamir replied: “All of us are losing patience with the situation in Lebanon. All of us would like to see an end to a confused and tragic situation.”
Shamir also noted that the television pictures of the events in Lebanon also have an effect on public opinion and this is another reason Israel wants to reach a “solution as quickly as possible.”
The Israeli official denied that there was any discussion yesterday during his half-hour meeting at the White House and three-hour meeting at the State Department about Israel’s use of American-made arms in Lebanon. He said that when the arms were sold to Israel their purchase included certain “rules” about their use. He said Israel has not violated those rules.
Shamir said that in his meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee he found some members “sympathetic, some less sympathetic” with Israel’s views. But he stressed the atmosphere was “very positive.”
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