Reagan Invites Egypt, Israeli Aides to Talks

President Reagan, in a move that ignited controversy in Israel’s closely fought national election campaign, has invited the foreign ministers of Israel and Egypt to meet him in New York later this month to try to revive the stalled Middle East peace effort, U.S. officials and diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

Reagan promptly was accused by some Israeli officials of trying to influence the selection of the next Israeli prime minister.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres immediately accepted the invitation, which was extended to him and Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid. Reagan, Peres and Meguid will be in New York to attend the opening of the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 26.

‘Important Players’

“They’re important players in the peace process,” an Administration official said of Peres and Meguid. “The President was going (to New York) and they’re (also) coming. He’s taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Another U.S. official said that the meeting, which also will be attended by Secretary of State George P. Shultz, is intended to “reaffirm our commitment to the peace process at a very high level.”

But in Israel, where Peres and his centrist Labor Alignment are locked in a bitter election contest with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and his rightist Likud Bloc, the meeting drew instant protests. Peres supports the U.S. proposal for a Middle East settlement, while Shamir has deep misgivings about it. The peace process is the most volatile issue in the campaign for Israel’s Nov. 1 election.

“I do not have all the details, but you have to remember that we are on the eve of elections,” Shamir told Israel Radio. Deputy Prime Minister David Levy, a Shamir ally, accused Peres of going behind Shamir’s back in arranging the talks. Other Likud politicians called for the meeting to be canceled.

‘Amazing’ Timing

Reuters news agency, in a dispatch from Jerusalem, quoted Shamir spokesman Yossi Ahimeir as saying: “It is amazing that America decided to initiate this meeting at this time. Any American effort to promote peace is welcome, but the timing of this meeting and the very fact that Peres is one of two main contenders for the premiership--these were not taken well.”

An Administration official shrugged off the complaints.

“The Israeli elections are going on; our elections are going on,” the official said. “But the process is continuing. Peace can’t wait for elections.”

Although the Administration insists that it is neutral in the Israeli election contest, U.S. officials, when speaking privately, have made no secret for years of their belief that the chances for a Middle East peace settlement would be better with Peres as prime minister. Peres and his party say they are prepared to deal away part of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to achieve an overall peace agreement with Israel’s Arab adversaries. Shamir and his party insist on retaining Israeli control of all of the territories captured in the Arab-Israeli War in 1967.

Uneasy Coalition

Labor and Likud have governed Israel in an uneasy coalition since the parties finished in a near-dead heat in the last general election in 1984. Peres served as prime minister and Shamir as foreign minister for the first half of the term before switching jobs in 1986.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that Peres welcomes the New York meeting. “The foreign minister said it is important to maintain the peace process, and there is a lot to talk about,” the spokesman said.

U.S. officials concede that Reagan, Shultz, Peres and Meguid will not be able to engage in real negotiations because they all support the Middle East peace initiative, which Shultz unveiled earlier this year. One official said the purpose of the meeting will be to “underline” their backing for the plan.

However, the U.S. government, the Egyptian government and Peres’ party are the only supporters of the Shultz initiative, which calls for an international peace conference to serve as a forum for direct negotiations between Israel and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. All other major players in the region oppose the idea.

Syria has rejected the plan, although President Hafez Assad’s government has invited Shultz to continue searching for a compromise. Shamir’s party objects to an international conference. And, perhaps most damaging to the Shultz concept, Jordan’s King Hussein has said that he will not attempt to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians, torpedoing the joint delegation that was central to the U.S. proposal.