The Bush administration, still trying to woo Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir into accepting its ideas for a Middle East peace conference, has promised Jerusalem that so long as Secretary of State James Baker’s proposals remain open, the United States would block any U.N. Security Council discussion of the Arab-Israel conflict.
Baker made the offer in a letter to Shamir, which he have to Prime Minister David Levy when they met at the State Department last Thursday.
The proposal was outlined to American Jewish leaders at a meeting with Baker later that day, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said Wednesday.
Hoenlein confirmed that Baker said the United States would use its veto power to prevent any discussion of the Middle East process in the Security Council. It would include any attempt to move the negotiations from the region to the United Nations.
The offer was seen as an attempt to get around Shamir’s rejection of any U.N. role in Middle East negotiations.
Shamir made clear in a letter to President Bush, dated June 6, that he would not accept even a limited U.N. presence as an observer at the conference.
Shamir also rejected Baker’s proposal that the conference could be reconvened if bilateral negotiations between Israel and Arabs were to bog down.
Both proposals were aimed at Syria, which wants an international conference under the auspices of the five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, Britain, Soviet Union, France and the People’s Republic of China.
Israel rejects that out of hand.
It would accept only a conference hosted by the United States and the Soviet Union. But Jerusalem insists that the conference disband permanently after serving as the ceremonial opening to bilateral talks.
Shamir’s letter to Bush came in response to a letter the U.S. president sent to all Middle East leaders with whom Baker had spoken during his shuttles through the region following the gulf war. His letter urged more flexibility.
So far, only Israel and Jordan have replied, neither to Washington’s satisfaction.
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