Peres Accedes to Hussein’s Proposal of Widened Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Friday that his country is prepared to accept Jordan’s proposal for an international conference as a backdrop for Middle East peace talks, provided that Israel would not be required to sit at the same table with nations that do not have diplomatic relations with his government.

The offer was a significant concession to Jordan’s King Hussein, who has said that he is ready for direct peace talks with Israel but only in an international context that would avoid one-on-one negotiations, which most other Arab governments oppose.

At the same time, Peres said there would be no Israeli compromise on Hussein’s other key demand--for participation in the talks of Palestinian representatives acceptable to the Palestine Liberation Organization. He urged the Jordanian monarch to cut his ties to the PLO after the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and other recent acts of terrorism.

Ends Washington Visit

Peres, winding up a three-day visit to Washington, said at a press conference that Israel would participate in an international conference if the Soviet Union restores the diplomatic ties that Moscow broke at the time of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and China recognizes Israel for the first time.

If the Soviets and Chinese are unwilling to establish diplomatic relations, Peres said, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--the United States, Britain, France, the Soviet Union and China--could issue a joint statement of support for direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan.

Peres said Israel had not changed its position that international auspices are unnecessary, but he added that he is willing to go along with such a plan if it is “important to the other party.”

He was far more conciliatory toward Jordan on Friday than he had been Thursday in a formal statement made after his meeting with President Reagan.

Now Up to Moscow

The new Israeli formula seems to put the ball in Moscow’s court. The Soviets could break the Middle East stalemate by going along with either of Israel’s conditions. Chinese participation is of marginal importance to Israel and Jordan, but Hussein has made it clear that the Soviet Union must be included to provide full superpower support.

Peres’ plan is intended to force Moscow to choose among three options, all of which are more favorable to Israel than the status quo. The first option, a restoration of diplomatic relations, is something Israel has been seeking for years. The second option, direct negotiations backed by the major world powers but without a formal conference, comes close to Israel’s original plan. The third option, outright Soviet rejection of the Peres proposals, would make Moscow appear to be an obstacle to peace and could be used to convince Hussein that it is pointless to continue to demand Soviet participation.

Peres continued to hammer away at his call for Jordan to join in negotiations. Israel has issued such invitations in the past but usually in a context that made them appear to be rhetorical flourishes instead of serious proposals.

New Urgency

In his Washington appearances, however, Peres has sought to give a new urgency to the call for talks. On Thursday, he said he is ready to negotiate in Amman, Jerusalem or Washington. On Friday, he added Cairo to the list of possible venues and indicated that he would accept other cities as well.

He also promised to compromise with Hussein once the talks start. He said successful negotiations always produce results that are “not the (opening) position of one side or the other, but a third solution not thought of before.”

But he was adamant in his opposition to giving the PLO any role in the peace talks. He said Hussein had been deceived by PLO leader Yasser Arafat into believing that the organization was ready for serious peace negotiations.

‘Sincere Effort’

“I tend to believe that this (Hussein’s Feb. 11 agreement with Arafat on a joint strategy) was a sincere effort by the king,” Peres said. “While the king tried to lead the PLO in the direction of peace and negotiations, I got the strange feeling that the PLO tried to lead the king in the direction of a joint confrontation (with Israel).”

Nevertheless, Peres said he is ready to negotiate with Palestinians who are not tied to the PLO if Jordan wants it that way. He said Israel would talk to Jordan alone, to a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation or to a Jordanian delegation with Palestinian members.

Moreover, in a rare admission for an Israeli official, Peres said that the majority of Palestinian residents of the Israeli-occupied territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza Strip “support the ideas of the PLO,” presumably for a Palestinian homeland free of Israeli control.

But the prime minister said that many West Bank and Gaza residents are becoming disillusioned with the PLO’s failure to move toward a settlement and may be ready to abandon the organization while seeking its objectives by other--presumably more peaceful--means.