Israelis Postpone Vote on Plan for Peace Talks

Israel’s Inner Cabinet avoided a government crisis Thursday by postponing a vote on whether to participate in Israeli-Palestinian talks proposed by Egypt.

The 12-member Inner Cabinet, divided evenly between the Likud and Labor parties, debated for 5 1/2 hours and decided to meet again today. The discussions centered on the Labor Party’s call for acceptance of Egypt’s proposal and a U.S. recommendation on the selection of the Palestinian delegation.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s right-wing Likud Party opposes the Egyptian proposal, contending that it would lead to direct negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which the government rejects. Likud hard-liners insist that Israel must not deviate from its own peace initiative, which calls for elections in the occupied territories to pick Palestinians to negotiate on their future.

Cabinet ministers asked Foreign Minister Moshe Arens to bring additional information to today’s session on Washington’s proposal for a U.S., Egyptian and Israeli meeting to choose the Palestinian delegation.

Thursday’s discussion was the first on the peace process by Israeli coalition leaders since Arens and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres returned from talks in the United States with President Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The government is deeply divided over the course of the peace process and threats have come from both the Likud and Labor parties to pull out of the coalition. But recently, the two parties have attempted to avoid a showdown, with the vote postponement Thursday providing another example.

In the Israeli-occupied territories Thursday, soldiers shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian during rioting in the West Bank village of Bidu on a day designated for “anger and protests” by the underground leadership of the uprising.

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem also observed the first of five days of general strikes called by the leadership to show Palestinian unity and to protest “the Israeli policy of brutality.”