Peres Firm on International Conference

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Monday reaffirmed a year-old formula for an international conference on Middle East peace, demonstrating that he had not softened his position at his summit last week with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

After a 70-minute White House meeting, Peres and President Reagan pledged their commitment to a negotiated peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. However, Peres did not budge from his conditions for any international meeting that would include the Soviet Union. Most Arab nations want such a meeting and demand that the Soviets participate.

Peres made it clear Monday that Moscow will be welcome only if it restores diplomatic relations with Israel and eases the treatment of Soviet Jews. Secretary of State George P. Shultz said the Reagan Administration shares that view totally.

Peres and Mubarak announced at their summit in Alexandria, Egypt, that they plan to form a committee to prepare for an international peace conference. But it is considered unlikely that the committee could overcome the obstacle of Soviet participation.

Peres first outlined the conditional plan for an international conference that would be a prelude to direct Israeli-Arab negotiations during a visit to the United States last year.

At the time, it appeared to be a promising innovation, but Moscow has shown no inclination to resume diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.

Moscow severed relations with the Jewish state after the 1967 Six-Day War. Last month, the two nations held their first formal talks since 1967, but the Soviets abruptly ended the session after only 90 minutes.

Peres is scheduled to return to Israel later this week. Under Israel’s “government of national unity,” he will trade jobs with Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, leader of the right-wing Likud Bloc, in mid-October. The rotation agreement was reached when neither Peres nor Shamir won enough support in the 1984 election to form a government of his own.

A senior U.S. official who briefed reporters after the Reagan-Peres session said that Washington does not anticipate major changes in Israeli policy, despite the stark differences in the views of Peres and Shamir, because the prime minister is obliged to carry out the policies of the Cabinet, in which both parties are represented.

“The prime minister has made every effort to stay within the guidelines of the government of national unity,” the U.S. official said. “We expect no change in Israeli foreign policy.”

With Peres standing at his side, Reagan paid glowing tribute to the outgoing prime minister.

He praised Peres’ commitment to the peace process and added: “His vision and his statesmanship and his tenacity are much appreciated here.

“Our two governments reiterate today our pledge to keep pushing for a lasting peace.”

Peres responded that “on the peace front, we have prepared the ground for a new drive.” But the only examples that he cited were the end of the war in Lebanon, now several years past, and the latest Israel-Egypt summit.