The State Department maintained Tuesday that it would not have invited the Palestine Liberation Organization to an international conference without Israel’s agreement.
Department spokesman Bernard Kalb also stressed that the offer to the PLO was part of a “package” designed to bring about direct negotiations between Israel and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.
Kalb’s comments came as he reaffirmed that King Hussein was correct when he said last week that the United States had agreed to invite the PLO to an international conference if the PLO accepted United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, agreed to negotiations with Israel and renounced terrorism.
Hussein revealed the offer in a television speech in which he announced he was ending a year-long effort to work out a joint peace strategy with PLO leader Yasir Arafat because the word the PLO leadership could not be relied upon.
EFFORT TO CONSTRUCT A PACKAGE
Kalb said Tuesday that the offer was one of the many aspects as the U.S. “attempted to help construct a package that would facilitate direct negotiations between Israel and the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation looking toward the establishment of peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbors.
“As it is always the case in such situations, no single issue can be satisfactorily addressed without reference to the full package of which it is part.
“Moreover, if that package could have been constructed, it goes without saying that it would not have been implemented without agreement to the full package by all sides.”
Kalb stressed Monday that Israelis on a senior level had been kept informed of all U.S. discussions on the peace process as had the Jordanians. There have been reports from Jerusalem that Premier Shimon Peres knew of the offer but Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir didn’t. While refusing Tuesday to describe any other aspects of the “package,” Kalb said that “now that the PLO has failed the King’s test there is no package and this isolated question is moot.”
REITERATES U.S. POSITION
He reiterated the U.S. position that now is a time for “reflection” and stressed it was “premature” to speculate on the next step by the U.S. At the same time, Kalb said for the “record,” he wanted to reiterate the long-standing U.S. policy on the PLO.
“We will not recognize nor negotiate with the PLO so long as the PLO does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and does not accept Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338,” he said. “And we made it clear that those who refuse to renounce violence and terrorism have no place at the negotiating table.”
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