Key Israelis Reject Baker’s Plea on Land

Pleading that they are not prepared to face the issue now, top Israeli officials on Tuesday dismissed a call by Secretary of State James A. Baker III that Israel give up the “unrealistic vision” of a greater Israel.

In London, where he was on an official visit, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said it is “useless, quite useless” for the Bush Administration to raise the issue of Israel’s borders. He said that giving up the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to achieve peace is a “theoretical formula, and I don’t think we have to discuss it now.”

Shamir criticized Baker for suggesting that Israel is seeking territorial grandeur through its control of the West Bank and Gaza.

‘Very Small Country’

“I don’t know how anyone could speak at all of a large Israel,” Shamir said on Israeli radio. “Israel is a very small country, and all of us know that its territory is very limited. It really sounds ironic to speak of Israel as big.”

Foreign Minister Moshe Arens criticized Baker for daring to define which aspirations are realistic for Israel and which are not.

“These are our dreams,” Arens said in an interview from Brussels. “We are speaking about our country, and we have proven that we fulfill our dreams.”

The question of Israeli territorial dreams was the dominant topic in public debate on comments Baker made Monday in a speech to a pro-Israeli lobby in Washington. The speech was widely viewed as the clearest expression to date of Washington’s policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--and the fullest outline of issues separating the United States and Israel.

In Jerusalem, politicians on the right challenged Baker’s ability to limit Israel’s dreams, while politicians on the left insisted that the country has yet to decide whether it will keep the land.

“They want to dictate to us not only the political plans and political initiative, they want to dictate to us also our dreams--what to dream about and what not to dream about,” complained Geula Cohen, a member of the right-wing Tehiya party.

Shimon Peres, leader of the centrist Labor Party, cautioned: “I disagree with the secretary that the . . . dream of a greater Israel is the policy of the present government.”

It appeared to some Israelis that Baker was trying to force an issue that Israeli leaders had striven to avoid: a decision on the final status of the West Bank and Gaza.

Favors Holding Land

Shamir’s Likud Party, the dominant bloc in the ruling coalition, favors holding on to the land forever. Peres’ Labor Party, the junior partner, is willing to surrender some of the territory in return for a peace settlement.

“The American request cannot be answered,” Alon Liel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said. “If we respond to it, the government will fall apart. If we do not, we will not find an Arab partner to talk peace.”

Liel said that Israel prefers a step-by-step approach that leaves for later consideration the contentious issue of who controls the land.

Israel has offered a plan for elections in the West Bank and Gaza to select a Palestinian peace delegation. Members of the delegation would have to accept five years of self-rule under Israeli authority as a condition for taking part in final talks. The final talks would begin three years into the period of self-rule.

Arens, upon ending a visit to Washington this week, said that Israel had won “unreserved American support” for the peace plan. But U.S. officials indicated that the plan falls short in important details.

In ‘Horrible’ Mood

Foreign Ministry officials said that Arens’ mood on learning of the Baker speech was “horrible.”

It was the second time this year that Arens has left Washington at odds with Baker. Just after Arens’ first visit, in March, Baker told Congress that Israel might some day have to talk with the Palestine Liberation Organization in order to achieve peace. Israeli officials considered Baker’s statement a slip of the tongue. Israel officially opposes contact with the PLO.

Now, no one is mistaking Baker’s tone.

“This indicates Baker means business,” a Foreign Ministry official said.

Besides the flap over the land-for-peace formula, Israeli leaders also attacked Baker’s suggestions on ways to ease tension in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Baker called on Israel to stop building settlements in the occupied territories. About 70,000 Israelis live in 139 settlements there, and the government has agreed to build five more this year.

Palestinians reacted cautiously to the Baker speech. Newspaper editor Ziad abu Ziad, a PLO supporter, said, “I believe Baker’s statement is positive . . . but it is not the change that the Palestinian is asking for.”

Pro-PLO leader Sari Nusseibeh described Baker’s speech as a positive sign but said its impact will depend on Israeli reaction.

Palestinians in the occupied territories have rejected the Israeli election plan.