Israel Launches Drive to Blunt Impact of Palestinian State Declaration

Israel has launched a major diplomatic offensive to blunt the international impact of the Palestinian independence declaration, Israeli officials said Wednesday.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed its diplomats throughout the world to urge countries not to endorse a Palestinian state. So far, 24 nations have backed the call by the Palestine Liberation Organization to create a state alongside Israel. Most of the recognition came from Arab nations or those with significant Muslim populations.

One, Turkey, has full relations with Israel, and the Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish charge d’affaires to the ministry here to express “sorrow and disappointment” over Turkey’s action.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he regrets all the moves to back a Palestinian state. The PLO, through its so-called parliament in exile, the Palestine National Council, declared independence Tuesday at a meeting in Algiers. The statement implicitly covered the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, although it specified no borders.

Complicated Situation

“It (recognition) complicates the situation further by supporting something that should not be supported,” Peres said.

Peres rejected the view that the PLO move might create conditions for peace talks. But he admitted that the organization, which Israel dismisses as a purely terrorist group, has succeeded in polishing its image.

“The conference in Algiers . . . created maybe an impression of moderation,” he said.

Other Israeli politicians sounded alarms that Israel is losing diplomatic ground. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir described the Palestinian declaration as a weapon in a “diplomatic war.” Hawkish Industry and Trade Minister Ariel Sharon said, “We are facing a very dangerous political development.”

Concerned About Friends

The Israeli government is especially concerned that some among its friends might endorse the PLO’s call. Newspapers here gave extensive coverage to news that the United States did not recognize the proposed Palestinian state.

“We are encouraged by the reaction in Washington,” said Avi Pazner, the spokesman for Shamir. “We hope that no democratic, Western country will recognize what is being called a state.”

Foreign Ministry officials say they are anxiously awaiting the responses of Egypt, Greece, Italy and Romania. Egypt is the only Arab country to recognize Israel and is a diplomatic force in the Middle East. Recognition by Greece and Italy would be a sign that the independence statement might make inroads in Western Europe. Romania is the only East Bloc nation to have diplomatic relations with Israel.

In all, 76 countries recognize Israel. More than 100 governments accept the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, although it is not clear that all of those will support Palestinian statehood.

According to wire service counts, these nations have recognized the Palestinian state: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nicaragua, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, South Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Yugoslavia and Zambia.

The Israeli government opposes an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip under any circumstances.

Israel has long sought to put the PLO on the sidelines of the Middle East conflict. In 1982, the Israeli army invaded neighboring Lebanon in order to break the back of the PLO military structure there. The Israelis succeeded in expelling the bulk of the PLO forces from the country. Most mainstream PLO leaders took up a distant exile in Tunisia, while some split off to join hard-line factions backed by Syria.

The 11-month old uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip persuaded--some say forced--the PLO to come up with new approaches to its conflict with Israel. Independence was one of the demands of the West Bank and Gaza rebels, even if it meant acceptance of Israel. The PLO resisted such a move because it would mean giving up its stated goal of wiping Israel off the map.

To stand pat, however, meant that the PLO risked losing the support of the front-line fighters--those Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza--in its war with Israel.

Meanwhile, having driven the PLO from its northern border, Israel was forced to deal with unrest in its own back yard, led by Arabs who were still loyal to the PLO. So far, Israel has contained but not put down the rebellion. Almost 300 Arabs and eight Israelis have been killed in the uprising.

Israel Asserts Its Rule

During the last six days, the Israeli army has taken extra measures to assert its rule in the territories, which Israel occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War.

“What is important is what happens on the ground,” said Pazner, the prime minister’s spokesman. “We will not allow them to make any gains in the territories.”

On Wednesday, Israel enforced curfews in the major West Bank towns of Qalqiliya, Tulkarm and Nablus, as well as the entire coastal Gaza Strip. The curfew in the Gaza Strip, where about 630,000 Palestinians live, completed its fifth day, the longest shutdown in the territory’s 21 troubled years.

In several towns and villages, Israeli authorities cut off electricity. Israel’s army commander on the West Bank, Maj. Gen. Amram Mitzna, described the power outage as a way to keep Arabs from watching television or listening to radio reports of the independence statement.

“We certainly intend to prevent mass communications to disseminate information and coordinate activities,” Mitzna said on Israel Radio. “I think we will get across the message to Arab residents that this (independence) is not the way. People will understand that decisions made outside will have no effect on changing the situation here.”

Telephone lines in several big cities also remained cut.

In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, no sooner did soldiers lift a one-day curfew than youths attached the outlawed red, white, green and black Palestinian flag to power lines and sprayed graffiti on walls welcoming the declaration of independence. In Nablus, residents took advantage of nightfall to set off fireworks and wave banners in the dark.

Keeping the Quiet

“The Israel Defense Forces will keep as many troops in the area as is needed,” said the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron. “We will continue to keep the quiet by keeping people under curfew as necessary.”

The army extended the closure of schools and universities in the West Bank for another month. Except for a few weeks last summer, the occupied area’s 318,000 students have been out of school for nine months. Israeli authorities say that the schools are breeding grounds for demonstrations, although protests have gone on whether schools are open or not.