Secretary of State George Shultz will visit Israel briefly in May to attend ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, officials here said today.
Although the visit apparently evolved from discussions in Washington of how the Reagan Administration would participate in international observances of the anniversary, Shultz will use the occasion for political talks with Premier Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Yitzhak Shamir, the officials said.
Shultz’s visit to Israel is also seen as a means of easing the disappointment expressed in Jewish circles in the U.S. and elsewhere over the Administration’s rejection of proposals that President Reagan visit the site of the Dachau concentration camp when he is in West Germany in May.
Reagan and his spokesmen maintained that such a visit might injure the sensibilities of the Bonn government, although it was the government which originally proposed it.
It is not known whether Shultz plans to visit other countries in the region. His talks in Jerusalem are expected to focus on the diplomatic momentum stimulated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s recent peace initiative.
In that connection, the Reagan Administration’s top Middle East aide, Richard Murphy, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, is due to the region shortly to assess the extent of support for Mubarak’s undertaking.
The Prime Minister’s Office, meanwhile, has published a statement reaffirming Israel’s opposition to Mubarak’s proposal that the Reagan Administration meet with a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation for preliminary discussions. The statement stressed Israel’s insistance that it be involved directly in such talks from the outset.
It affirmed Israel’s willingness to negotiate with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation but only if it contained no representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Shamir noted in an interview today that the U.S. remains firm in its opposition to negotiations which did not include Israel, media reports to the contrary not withstanding. He observed in that connection that the recent visits to Washington by Mubarak and the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Taher Al-Masri were not negotiations but simply part of America’s ongoing contacts with countries in the area.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
