Shamir Urges 5-Party Mideast Peace Parley

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir proposed Thursday an international peace conference on the Mideast--possibly at Camp David--to be attended by representatives of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinians and the United States.

The suggestion seems designed to smooth over differences between Shamir and his American hosts, but it stopped well short of an international conference including the Soviet Union and other Arab states that Jordan’s King Hussein has set as a precondition for direct negotiations between his nation and Israel.

“I’m ready to accept an international conference on peace in the Middle East, but in this conference must participate Israel, Egypt, Jordan, representatives of the Palestinian Arabs and the United States,” Shamir said before delivering a speech at the National Press Club.

Invitation to Hussein

“I once again address myself to King Hussein and invite him to join us in direct face-to-face talks without preconditions,” Shamir said. “Let us meet--if not in our region, which would be desirable--then right here in Washington or at Camp David.”

Earlier in his visit to Washington, which ends early today, Shamir had seemed to bicker publicly with President Reagan and Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who said the United States supports any step that would bring Israel and any of its Arab neighbors into direct negotiations, including an international conference.

Shamir, in proposing a narrower conference, nevertheless reiterated his objections to a forum that would bring the Soviet Union into the Middle East peace process, saying that the sort of conference proposed by Jordan would become “a stage for propaganda.”

Israel has sought for years to bring Jordan into direct negotiations, hoping to make the Hashemite kingdom the second Arab nation after Egypt to sign a peace treaty with the Jerusalem government. Hussein, whose nation lost the West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israel war, has said he is ready to discuss peace but under conditions far different from those favored by Israel.

Two years ago, Hussein proposed a conference to be attended by Israel, all the neighboring Arab states, a Palestinian delegation acceptable to the Palestine Liberation Organization but probably not including acknowledged PLO members, and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council--the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China.

Acceptable to Arab States

Hussein’s proposal was endorsed publicly by Egypt and is believed to be acceptable to most other Arab states.

Shimon Peres, Shamir’s predecessor as prime minister, said he would attend such a conference if the Soviet Union and China restored diplomatic relations with Israel. Peres, who is now foreign minister in Israel’s coalition government, repeated his stand this week, producing a sharp contrast with Shamir. Because the Israeli Cabinet has not adopted a government position on the subject, Shamir and Peres are free to advance their own ideas.

Under Shamir’s latest formulation, Egypt and the United States would serve as mediators in talks between Israel and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

On another topic, Shamir said that Israel is exploring ways of winning the release of a downed Israeli flier being held by the Shia Muslim militia Amal in Lebanon. Amal leader Nabih Berri has proposed trading the airman for about 400 Palestinian and Shia prisoners held by Israel and its southern Lebanese militia allies as part of a deal that also would free American hostages in Lebanon.

Will Try to Get Flier Out

“We will make efforts to get him out of Lebanon,” Shamir said. “I don’t know for the moment what we will do. I don’t think I can say because it would not be useful.”

Shamir said he would not talk in public about the details of Israel’s involvement in the Iran- contras affair before official investigations in the United States are complete. He would say only that “Israel acted in accordance with its obligations as a friend and ally to the United States.”

Shamir met for almost two hours at the Pentagon on Thursday with Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and other officials without resolving a dispute over Israel’s plans to divert U.S. military aid into production of its own jet fighter, the Lavi.

Weinberger contends that the Lavi is far more expensive than the U.S.-produced F-16 but is not as good an aircraft. The Pentagon believes that Israel should spend its aid money on F-16s, which would give it more punch for the U.S. taxpayer’s money.

In his Press Club speech, Shamir said that Israel has not yet made a final decision on the Lavi, but he added that “I do want to express profound satisfaction that Israel is today one of the few countries in the world that is able to produce an aircraft like the Lavi.”