Shamir Urges Elections for Palestinians : Bush Gives Idea to Resolve Conflict Qualified Support

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir today proposed “free democratic elections” in the occupied territories but said details must still be worked out, and President Bush gave his qualified support to the proposal.

At the same time, Bush opposed any outcome in which Israel might retain land it won in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Bush said he told Shamir that “we do not support an independent Palestinian state, nor Israeli sovereignty over or permanent occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.”

Shamir’s proposal for elections was the main idea he brought here as a way resolving the conflict on the West Bank and in Gaza, where Palestinians have been in rebellion for 15 1/2 months.

‘Permanent Agreement’

Shamir said Israel will need the cooperation of the Palestinians in devising the electoral process, which he said would be followed by negotiations for “a permanent agreement” on the Palestinian issue.

“In order to launch a political negotiating process,” Shamir said, “we propose free democratic elections, free from an atmosphere of PLO violence, terror and intimidation, among the Palestinian Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (the Hebrew references to the territories). Their purpose is to produce a delegation to negotiate an interim period of self-government administration.”

Bush said he was confident an “acceptable formula” could be devised for conducting elections in the West Bank and Gaza, territory Israel has held since 1967.

“The United States believes elections in the territories can be designed to contribute to a political process of dialogue and negotiations,” Bush said after meeting with Shamir for a little more than an hour.

‘More Needs to Be Done’

But a senior U.S. official said Bush and Shamir had agreed on a principle, not any arrangement for conducting the elections.

“These are principles for moving forward,” the official told reporters under rules that barred identifying him. “Everyone recognizes more needs to be done . . . to put meat on the bones.”

Bush urged Israel to engage in “a serious dialogue” with Palestinians, but did not say if he wanted Israel to talk to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which claims to represent the 1.4 million people who live on the West Bank and in Gaza.

Shamir’s government has resisted talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which it calls a terrorist group. It seeks instead to involve other Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in moves toward a settlement aimed at ending months of violent resistance to Israeli rule.