Congressmen Tell Shamir of Strains in Israel’s Image in U.S.
Visiting U.S. congressmen told Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir today that Israel’s image among Americans had been damaged by lack of progress toward peace in the Middle East.
Shamir’s office said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), Larry Smith (D-Fla.)(D- and Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) reported that congressional support for Israel remained firm but that public backing had waned.
U.S.-Israeli relations have been badly strained by Israel’s failure to open talks with Palestinians, as proposed by Secretary of State James A. Baker III. Shamir’s new right-wing government has set tough conditions for negotiations with Palestinians.
Shamir said violence was down in the 30-month-old uprising in the occupied territories because the United States suspended talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization after an abortive raid on Israeli beaches in May.
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