Likud’s Tough Terms Make Peace Harder--Baker

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei — Secretary of State James A. Baker III said today that tough terms set by Israel’s ruling Likud Party for Palestinian elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would make it more difficult to move toward peace in the Middle East.

“In our judgment the Likud resolutions are not helpful,” Baker told reporters after a meeting in Brunei with Southeast Asian foreign ministers.

“Imposing restrictive conditions is . . . obviously going to make it more difficult to get negotiations and we have urged all the parties to avoid this,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on Wednesday said elections in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip could be held only after the Palestinian uprising there was crushed, that Palestinian Arabs living in East Jerusalem would not be allowed to vote, and that Jewish settlements would continue to be built in the territories.