Shultz Sets 10-Day Mideast Deadline : Delivers Formal U.S. Proposal to Israel, Syria, Egypt

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, warning that delay could cost the world its best chance in a decade for Middle East peace, delivered a formal U.S. proposal to leaders of Israel, Syria and Egypt on Friday and called on them to give him an answer within 10 days.

“I think deadlines are good things in trying to get people to make up their minds,” Shultz told reporters on the flight from Damascus to Cairo.

Shultz presented the plan to Jordan’s King Hussein on Thursday.

According to Israel Radio, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir immediately said the proposal was unacceptable without major changes, but after Shultz left Jerusalem on Friday, an aide to Shamir said only that the prime minister remains opposed to “some points” of the proposal.

Israel agreed to withhold its formal response until Shamir visits Washington on March 14-16. U.S. officials said they hope to have received a reply from all of the Arab parties before Shamir’s arrival in the United States.

All or Nothing

Shultz made it clear that Washington would resist an attempt by Shamir or any of the Arabs to accept part of the package while rejecting other parts. He said the program is carefully balanced to be fair to all sides.

“To the extent that everybody wants to move ahead, then they have to look at an integrated package,” Shultz said. “If they want to remove something, that something is there for a reason and (they must say) how do they propose to deal with that reason?”

The U.S. plan calls for negotiations to begin as early as next month with an international meeting to be attended by the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China as well as the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The meeting would be intended to give a broad international backing to the peace talks, but the outside powers would not be allowed to impose a settlement.

It seems almost impossible that arrangements could be made for such a conference in a month. The issue of Palestinian representation alone has hamstrung the peace process for years.

Status Quo Must End

But Shultz said that, probably as a result of 11 weeks of bloody violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, both Arabs and Israelis now seem to agree that the status quo cannot continue indefinitely.

He said the parties must ask themselves, “Do they want to achieve something, and do they want to move along or maybe the moment will be lost?”

Jerusalem has scheduled a special meeting Sunday of the so-called Inner Cabinet of 10 senior ministers--five each from Shamir’s rightist Likud Bloc and the centrist Labor Alignment of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who has been generally supportive of Shultz’s initiative.

Yearlong Standoff

Likud and Labor, bitter ideological rivals, have been in a yearlong standoff on how to proceed in the peace process, and there was no sign Friday that Shultz had found enough common ground to break the stalemate. One senior government source called it “difficult to imagine” that the Inner Cabinet will be able to reach consensus.

Israel Radio quoted Peres as saying during an “informal conversation” after meeting with Shultz on Friday that the Cabinet must reach a “clear decision” on the Shultz initiative before Shamir’s trip to Washington. Peres was quoted as saying that if the decision is negative, “then the government will have to go to the country and hold early elections.”

The next scheduled parliamentary elections are in November, but if Labor and Likud can agree on an earlier date, polling might be pushed up to May or June, according to Israeli political analysts.

Shultz said that in the early phases of his shuttle tour, which began Feb. 24, he discussed all of the issues with Israeli, Jordanian, Syrian and Egyptian officials without putting anything into writing. But after a break for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit meeting Wednesday and Thursday, Shultz retraced his steps to deliver the formal U.S. proposal.

Based on U.N. Resolution

Shultz said the plan is based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which called for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory in exchange for a peace settlement and a guaranteed right to exist within recognized borders.

He said that if Syria chooses to participate in the talks, the land-for-peace formula contained in Resolution 242 would apply to the Golan Heights which Israel seized from Syria in 1967. Israel has formally annexed the Golan Heights, a step it has not taken with regard to the West Bank, captured from Jordan, and the Gaza Strip, taken from Egypt, in 1967.

The plan is understood to call for a start of negotiations concerning an interim settlement within a month of the international conference. The plan envisions a phase of limited self-rule for Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to last for three years. The autonomy plan would not take effect until negotiations begin for a final settlement.

Shultz met Friday with Shamir, Peres, President Hafez Assad of Syria and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt during a grueling 29-hour stretch scheduled to end shortly after dawn today at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington.

Mubarak appeared elated after hearing Shultz’s report. In an unusual gesture, he accompanied the secretary of state to the door of the palace and told reporters, “We should be very keen to keep the peace process going forward for the welfare of the area, the people of the Middle East, including the Israelis.”

Mubark said he considers the new U.S. proposals to be “encouraging” and promised to discuss the matter with Hussein and other Arab leaders.

Although Shamir, Hussein and Assad have all indicated that they have doubts about the American plan, all have urged Shultz to continue his initiative.

Shultz said U.S. Middle East envoy Wat T. Cluverius will continue to shuttle between the capitals. Shultz said that he will return to the region if necessary to keep up pressure for a settlement.

Kempster reported from Cairo and Fisher reported from Jerusalem.