U.S. Administration is Signaling That It Wants to Put Some Distance Between Itself and Israel

An effort seems to be underway by the Reagan Administration to put some distance between itself and Israel in the aftermath of recent criticism of what is perceived here to be Israel’s excessive bombing of west Beirut, and to reestablish its position as a friend of Arab nations.

This effort was seen by observers as emerging from a series of consultations begun yesterday by Secretary at State George Shultz with Congress on ways to settle long-standing disputes in the Middle East, including the future of the Palestinians, once the crisis in west Beirut is over. The U.S. is also seeking to make it clear that it is not the pawn of Israel.

Shultz had a luncheon meeting yesterday with Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R. Tenn.) and other members of the Senate Republican leadership and key Democrats “primarily to listen, to seek their views” rather than to advance proposals of his own for future U.S. diplomacy in the Mideast, according to State Department spokesman Alan Romberg.

EVOLVING POLICY LINE

Nevertheless, Shultz is reportedly determined-to let Israel know that what happened since the war in Lebanon began June. 6, including the widespread feeling among Administration policy makers and “moderate” Arab leaders, specifically the Saudi Arabians, that the U.S. has been a hostage to Israeli policy, could not be repeated.

How this would take shape was not disclosed to the Senators, but Shultz indicated the direction of this policy in his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his confirmation last month.

He said then that “the crisis in Lebanon makes painfully and totally clear a central reality of the Middle East the legitimate needs and problems of the Palestinian people must be addressed and resolved — urgently and in all their dimension.”

The Administration is considering, according to official sources, plans to expand the perimeter not the negotiating process flowing from the Camp David peace accords and the Israeli-Egyptian peace process. This would involve the participation of Jordan and the Palestinians on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, an objective of the U.S., Israel and Egypt from the beginning but which has never gotten off the ground.

Romberg said yesterday that Shultz’s consultation with Congress resulted from several meetings between the Secretary of State and President Reagan, their meeting last week and at Camp David at which several senior Administration officials participated. The topics for discussion, Romberg said, included issues remaining in Lebanon after the Beirut crisis is settled and the Mideast peace process, especially the Palestinian question.

After his meeting yesterday with the Senators, Shultz told reporters that Reagan “has been trying to think beyond the issues presented in west Beirut to Middle East problems more generally, and the problems of the Palestinian people,”

INTERNATIONAL FORCE READY TO GO TO BEIRUT

Meanwhile, in anticipation for announcing the agreement on terms for the withdrawal of PLO forces from west Beirut and the introduction of American, French and Italian troops to supervise the evacuation, some 1,800 marines aboard five U.S. Navy ships set sail from Naples yesterday for the Lebanese coast. French and Italian troops are also on standing orders from their governments to enter Lebanon once the agreement on the pullout is officially announced.