The United States is offering Israel certain guarantees to prod it to accept the American peace initiative, Israeli and U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday.
The offer relates “directly to the fear that Israel feels damaged by going into the negotiating process” under the “umbrella” of an international conference, Asher Naim, the Israeli Embassy’s information minister, told reporters at the National Press Club.
State Department spokesman Charles Redman also confirmed that the proposals were discussed during Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s visit to Washington last week, but he refused to describe them. Shamir reportedly asked for guarantees that would continue beyond the Reagan administration.
Secretary of State George Shultz has noted that “the kind of proposals we have put forward have very strong bipartisan support” in Congress, Redman added.
“We really have a sense that we can get this thing moving and that there really isn’t difficulty having to go across the boundaries from one administration to another,” he said.
Redman apparently was referring to a proposed new Memorandum of Understanding between Israel and the United States that contains additional guarantees for security and peace.
Naim also indicated that so long as the new U.S. peace process does not “deteriorate,” Shultz will return to the Middle East within two weeks to press his Middle East peace initiative.
He said that except for the international conference, which Shamir vehemently opposes, there are no other major obstacles preventing Israel from accepting the initiative.
The U.S. plan calls for an international conference to set the stage for negotiations on autonomy measures for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The negotiations, to start as early as May 1, would last no longer than six months and would be followed by talks on the final status of the territories.
“If this obstacle is being overcome, I don’t see any other major obstacle in the way,” Naim said, emphasizing that Israel wants direct negotiations.
The Israeli Cabinet is expected to officially consider the plan this week. But Naim said the coalition government will likely not say “yes” or “no,” but will “authorize the prime minister or the foreign minister to continue negotiations on the Shultz initiative.”
“I don’t think we will reject the Shultz plan, because we want to see peace. We don’t want to endanger ourselves, but we don’t want to stop any initiative,” Naim said.
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.
