Radio Report Called ‘Mythical’ : Soviets Deny Hinting at Renewed Israel Ties

The Soviet Union on Saturday denied that it approached Israel with new conditions for restoring diplomatic ties.

A one-sentence report by the official Soviet news agency Tass stated, “The Israeli radio fabrications about a mythical proposal that has allegedly been conveyed by the U.S.S.R.’s ambassador in France to Israel’s ambassador in Paris, just as the pronouncements ascribed to the Soviet ambassador, are totally groundless.”

Israel radio said Friday that Soviet Ambassador Yuli M. Vorontsov, in a meeting with the Israeli ambassador in Paris, Ovadia Sofer, had suggested that Moscow might be ready to restore diplomatic relations with Israel in return for Israeli flexibility in dealing with the future of the Golan Heights.

Tass did not deny that the two ambassadors met. The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that the meeting took place but would give no details.

Soviet Foreign Ministry officials refused to comment on the Israeli radio report but said any improvement in Soviet-Israeli relations would depend on Israeli policies, particularly toward its Arab neighbors.

According to the Israeli broadcast, the Soviets had told Sofer that relations might be restored if what Moscow considers anti-Soviet propaganda is stopped and if Israel and Syria reach agreement on the Golan Heights.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria, the Soviets’ most important Mideast ally, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and formally annexed the territory 14 years later. The Soviet Union severed diplomatic ties with Israel after the war, and Israeli interests have since been represented by the Dutch Embassy in Moscow.

The Soviets have previously said that Israel should relinquish occupied Arab territory, including the West Bank of the Jordan River, captured from Jordan in 1967.

In Tel Aviv, Viktor Louis, a Soviet journalist close to Kremlin leaders, said Saturday that Moscow may be gearing up to discuss the issues with the United States.

On Saturday, Israel radio broadcast an interview with Louis, who is allowed to write for Western publications and who has provided generally reliable inside-Kremlin information to Western journalists.

Louis said that the Soviet Union is not likely to quickly resume diplomatic ties with Israel but that the Paris meeting was part of an effort “to give an impression that no stone has been left unturned in preparing” for a November summit meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The Moscow journalist said, “Most likely it (the Paris meeting) will lead to a series of consultations on Middle Eastern problems,” which are likely to be a prominent summit agenda item.

Louis said the meeting also indicates that the Soviets may increase official contacts with Israel.

Israeli officials fear that the Soviet Union may be maneuvering for a role in Middle East peace talks as the United States moves toward negotiations with Palestinians who sympathize with the Soviet-backed Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israel has rejected any Soviet role in meetings with Arab countries, demanding that the Kremlin renew the ties it broke after the 1967 war.

An Israeli political scientist and former Foreign Ministry aide assessed that the Paris meeting could signal that Gorbachev is seeking a “package deal” with Israel that could lead to renewed ties.

“This seems to be an interesting innovation in that conversation,” Shlomo Avineri said.