Shultz Departs Israel Insisting Initiative is ‘intact and Alive’

U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz left Israel on Wednesday insisting that his peace initiative for the Middle East was still “intact and alive,” but admitting that he had made no tangible progress so far in drawing parties toward negotiations.

After meeting separately with Premier Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and taping a half-hour interview which was to be shown on Israeli television Wednesday night, Shultz flew to Cairo, where he met with President Hosni Mubarak. He also was due to visit the Saudi capital of Riyadh, as well as Amman, Jordan, before heading for home.

With Shamir at his side, Shultz told reporters that he was a “stubborn” man and intended to persevere with his initiative.

He told Shamir privately, according to a leaked report from their meeting, that certain Arab leaders were urging the United States to cut aid to Israel, but that he would not consider such a thing.

The secretary told the press after his early morning meetings with Shamir that work would continue to examine and discuss “every detail, every implication of this initiative.”

“Differences have not been substantially narrowed,” Shultz conceded. But he added, “We will continue our efforts for peace. When you are down in the trenches doing it, you certainly are aware of how hard it is. But that does not lessen in any way the importance of continuing the effort.”

Shamir, for his part, voiced admiration for the secretary’s “readiness and devotion” to peacemaking and said he had “expressed our best wishes for his success in the near future, for him to make progress in this direction.”

The premier said he foresaw “further talks and discussions.”

HUSSEIN EXPRESSES INTEREST

Shultz repeatedly praised King Hussein’s approach, which was “the kind needed to move ahead.”

He said the Jordanian monarch had presented him, during their talks Tuesday, a detailed list of questions to clarify points in the peace plan and that this demonstrated the king’s keen interest in the initiative.

Shultz also briefed Peres, together with Cabinet Minister Ezer Weizman, who holds no portfolio, on his talks in Amman and Damascus.

Peres told waiting reporters he believed that the majority of Israelis supported the “land for peace” equation, though Israel could not return all of the land “because we need security.”

Peres’ foreign policy adviser, Dr. Nimrod Novik, sought to put a bright face on the situation, in a radio interview after the secretary’s departure. He stressed that no party had said no to Shultz and that this enabled the secretary to go ahead.

He maintained that Jordan’s response to the secretary had been basically positive. But King Hussein was not anxious to “jump ahead and say yes, when he feels there is no partner on the Israeli side.”

Novik said Shultz had obtained much more specific information from the parties on the various points of his initiative. He had solicited working papers from the offices of Shamir, Peres and Hussein, which he would now try to reconcile to produce further progress.

Novik felt Shultz would seek to persuade the Soviets, when he meets Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze later this month, to soften their terms for an international conference, warning them that if they refused to do so, they would in effect be ruining a still-promising prospect for negotiations in the Middle East.