Shamir Says He Will Resist U.S. Pressure : Israeli Leader Arrives for Visit With Bush, Vows He Won’t Submit to Direct Talks

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said today that Israel will resist U.S. pressure to attend an international peace conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“I’m immune to pressure,” the 73-year-old Israeli leader told reporters flying with him from Tel Aviv to the United States for a 10-day visit that includes talks in Washington this week on breaking the Middle East peace deadlock.

Aides said Shamir was annoyed when on Monday, the eve of his departure, President Bush cautiously endorsed convening a U.N.-sponsored international conference that would serve as an umbrella for direct Arab-Israeli talks.

“A peace conference is a way to dictate to Israel to accept what no Israeli is willing to accept,” Shamir said.

The hard-line prime minister views a conference--attended by superpowers Britain, China and France--as an Arab plot to force Israel to accept a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip that would threaten Israel’s existence.

Bush said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday: “A properly structured international conference could play a useful role at an appropriate time.” He said Israel should end its occupation of Arab lands.

An international conference is favored by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which began a dialogue with the United States nearly four months ago after recognizing Israel and renouncing terrorism.

Shamir thought he had squelched the conference idea when it was raised by the Reagan Administration, but he denied today that its resurrection meant a crisis with Washington, Israel’s closest ally and supplier of $3 billion in annual aid.

“What is a crisis? There can always be a disagreement, and I’ve said before (that) nothing will be resolved in one visit,” Shamir said, adding that he would wait to hear Bush’s ideas for himself when they meet Thursday.