Arafat Backing Peres as Israeli Leader

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat said Thursday he has asked Arab deputies in the Israeli Parliament to back Labor Party leader Shimon Peres in his battle to form a government.

Italian officials said the Palestine Liberation Organization leader, visiting Italy, told Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti: “I have asked Arab deputies present in the Knesset (Parliament) to vote for Peres.” The officials said Andreotti urged Arafat to help Peres form a Cabinet for the sake of peace talks.

Peres has said he is ready to form a government to replace the national unity Cabinet, led by the Likud Party, which fell last month in a dispute over a U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian talks. Peres backs the plan, while Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir opposes it. Parliament is expected to vote on the new government soon.

Arafat is basking in a red-carpet welcome from Italy’s top leaders that has provoked angry protests from Israel and Jewish groups. On Wednesday, those groups also protested his meeting in Paris with former President Jimmy Carter.