PLO Leader Must Recognize His Nation, Weizman Says : Key Israeli Official Willing to Meet Arafat if . . .

Ezer Weizman, the Israeli Cabinet minister responsible for relations with the Arab world, says he would be willing to meet with Yasser Arafat if the PLO chairman recognized Israel.

“If Arafat or any other leader of authority says, ‘I recognize Israel, I want to talk with it about coexistence,’ then he will be welcome,” Weizman said in an interview in Friday’s issue of the newspaper Haaretz.

Former Hawk

Now a minister without portfolio in the prime minister’s office, Weizman, 61, is a former war hero once known for his hawkish political views.

However, as Menachem Begin’s defense minister, he played a key role in negotiating the 1978 Camp David accords with Egypt and struck up a personal rapport with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. He eventually became something of an in-house critic of the hard-line Likud administration.

Weizman resigned from Begin’s government in 1981 over Israel’s future Mideast policy direction, then returned to politics as the head of Yahad, a new centrist party, running in the 1984 general election. He was elected to Parliament, holding one of three seats won by his small party.

Yahad went on to support Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ Labor Party in organizing Parliament.

Now, Weizman--who is close to Peres--has responsibility for Israeli Arabs, as well as neighboring Arab nations, and has been active in trying to promote closer relations with Egypt.

In the Haaretz interview, he noted that Israel has in the past concluded indirect agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization, mentioning in particular one in 1981.

“I’d like to remind my friends in the Likud . . . that they reached an agreement, albeit indirectly, with the PLO and that’s why not one shell landed across the northern border for nine months,” the former defense chief said without elaborating.

Avoiding Peace a Mistake

“There was a time when avoidance of war was bad policy,” Weizman said. “Today, avoidance of peace moves--as they’re shaping up now--is a mistake.”

“I am ready to meet with Arafat if he is ready to recognize the state of Israel,” he said.