Peres Defends Plans at Stormy Meeting : Cabinet Critics Say Proposals at U.N. Violate Coalition Accord

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, defending his proposals for U.N.-initiated peace talks, told a stormy Cabinet meeting Sunday that recent events have brought about a “dramatic change” that could lead to direct Israeli-Jordanian talks without the Palestine Liberation Organization.

At the same time, Peres seemed to retreat slightly from the position he outlined in a speech at the United Nations last week that called upon the Security Council to initiate and support direct negotiations between Israel and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

According to government sources, this aspect of Peres’ speech came in for criticism at an unusually long six-hour Cabinet meeting.

Led by Trade Minister Ariel Sharon, hard-line members of the government’s Likud faction charged that Peres’ proposals violate the agreement on which the “national unity” coalition is based. That agreement pledges both Peres’ own Labor Alignment and the rival Likud Bloc to keep Israel’s peace efforts within the guidelines of the 1979 Camp David accords and to shun an international peace conference as sought by Jordan, Egypt and the PLO.

Meeting Saturday, Likud members within the Cabinet adopted what they called the “four nos,” rejecting talks with the PLO, an interim agreement with Jordan, territorial compromise and--most important, they stressed--the convening of peace talks under international auspices.

Showdown Avoided

Analysts had predicted that the Labor-Likud differences would result in a coalition showdown. But a government source said after the Cabinet meeting that Peres told the Likud ministers his idea would limit the U.N. Security Council role to a statement calling on Israel and Jordan to begin direct negotiations. Once the Security Council had given its “blessing” to the talks, it would bow out, the source quoted Peres as saying.

Urging the Cabinet to support his initiative, Peres said he perceives “a dramatic change in Israel’s situation at this time, a chance for the rejection of the PLO and for peace negotiations between Israel and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.”

He was referring to the tensions that have become apparent between Jordan and the PLO after the Achille Lauro hijacking and the collapse of plans for talks between British officials and a Jordanian-Palestinian group including two PLO representatives. These events, which have discredited the PLO, have led to strains that Israel hopes to exploit by persuading Jordan’s King Hussein to enter into talks alone or with Palestinians who are not PLO members.

However, Peres’ appraisal of “a dramatic change” was contradicted by Jordan’s Information Minister Mohammed Khatib, who affirmed the Jordanian position that talks with Israel should take place in an international forum and only with the participation of the PLO.

An Israeli Cabinet source said that Peres’ argument also failed to sway Likud ministers, who demanded that he clarify his proposal regarding the United Nations during a session of the Israeli Parliament today.

The right-wing opposition Tehiya Party plans to introduce a motion of no confidence in the Peres-led government in the Parliament today. If Likud lawmakers either abstain or support the motion, the coalition could collapse.