U.S. Rejects Israeli Plea for Refugee Camp Aid

The United States and other nations rejected an Israeli request for aid to rehabilitate Palestinian refugee camps because of lack of progress on peace efforts, the government said today.

In a letter this week to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, President Bush turned down an Israeli request for aid to rehabilitate refugee camps in the occupied territories, Shamir spokesman Yossi Ahimeir said.

He said the United States, Japan, Canada and European nations all rejected the request and said any additional refugee assistance depends on further progress in stalemated peace efforts.

Bush’s letter came in response to Shamir’s request about two months ago for the United States to take a leading role in aiding rehabilitation of the camps, Ahimeir said.

“We consider the refugee problem to be a very important human problem,” Ahimeir said on Israel radio. “Resolving it could help advance the entire peace initiative.”

The issue arose as Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Shamir’s right-wing Likud Party headed to Washington to drum up more American help for peace efforts and to argue against PLO chief Yasser Arafat’s receiving a U.S. visa to address the United Nations.

Netanyahu blamed the Palestinians for holding up the peace process, saying slayings of 107 residents in the territories by fellow Arabs were aimed at blocking agreement to Israel’s peace initiative. Most of those killed were accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities.

Israeli news reports quoted Bush as saying in his letter to Shamir that the refugee camps had to be part of a “comprehensive plan to resolve the conflict” between Israel and Arab states.

Bush also reportedly reminded Shamir that the United States already plays a prominent role in aiding the refugees by contributing to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.