The World - News from April 23, 1987

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Israel is close to holding talks with Jordan, and he hinted that he will demand early elections if the government does not decide this year to participate in an international peace conference. “This nation needs and wants peace. And we have never been so close to conducting direct negotiations with a country other than Egypt on the vital issue of the Jewish-Arab conflict,” he said in an Israel television interview. Peres said he will soon submit a formal proposal to the government on an international forum as an opening for direct negotiations.