Shamir Says There Are Two Differences Between Israel Reagan Administration on the Mideast

— Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel told American Jewish leaders last night that there are two differences between the Reagan Administration and Israel concerning the Mideast. One is the Reagan Administration’s intention to postpone the resumption of the peace negotiations on Palestinian autonomy and the other is the different views Israel and the U.S. have on the role of Saudi Arabia in the Mideast, Shamir said.

Addressing a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Shamir, who had just concluded talks with top Administration officials in Washington, including Secretary of State Alexander Haig, warned that any delay in resuming the autonomy talks could endanger the whole peace process.

“There are many factors which are interested in killing the peace process,” Shamir said, noting that among them are the Soviet Union, the PLO and the European countries.

“If there is a postponement of the process,” he said, “the arena is free for various attempts which could be harmful to the process.” Noting that the Reagan Administration wants “to study the situation, the conditions” before it resumes involvement in the autonomy negotiations, Shamir said that for Israel, reviving the talks with Egypt “was the most important and most urgent issue.”

DIFFERENCES ON SAUDI ARABIA

Shamir said that on the issue of Saudi Arabia “there is a difference of opinion” between Washington and Jerusalem. The Reagan Administration considers Saudi Arabia to be “a moderate country,” Shamir said. “But it is one of the most extreme Arab countries,” the Israeli diplomat charged, pointing out that the Saudis are among the PLO’s staunchest supporters, pressuring many countries in the world to break relations with Israel and recognize the PLO. He said that the recent announcement by Japan that it invited PLO leader Yasir Arafat for a visit was a result of Saudi pressure.

“We cannot regard Saudi Arabia as a moderate country as the U.S. does,” Shamir said, predicting that in the future Israel and the U.S. will have “many confrontations” over that issue.

Shamir said that if the U.S. decides to sell the Saudis equipment that would improve the combat capabilities of the Saudis’ F-15 warplanes, then Israel feels it is entitled to increased military support from the United States to keep the balance of power in the Mideast on Israel’s side.

CITES MIDEAST ARMS RACE

The Israeli Foreign Minister also said that in his talks in Washington he raised the issue of “the terrible arms race in the Mideast.” Contending that the Arabs’ oil revenues enabled them to purchase the most advanced and sophisticated weapons in the world, Shamir said that Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Libya have together 10,000 tanks, as much as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries have, and some 2000 warplanes. “And they are getting more and more,” Shamir said. He warned that this arms buildup constitutes a danger to world peace.

He said Israel asked the U.S. “to do anything possible” to reduce the arms race and influence other countries to reduce their arms supply to the Arabs. He noted that traditional U.S. policy was to maintain the balance of power in the Mideast in Israel’s favor and said that the Reagan Administration is “committed to Israel’s security and will do all to maintain the balance of power.”

Shamir called on the governments of Syria and the Soviet Union to let the Jews in their countries emigrate. He said that Israel received information recently of renewed persecution of Syrian Jews. He appealed to the USSR “to change its policy regarding Jews.”