U.S., Soviets Call Israelis and Arabs to Historic Talks : Mideast: Announcement caps 8 months of efforts by Baker. Peace conference is slated for Oct. 30 in Madrid. Bush and Gorbachev plan to meet there one day earlier.

Brushing aside lingering Israeli doubts, the United States and the Soviet Union on Friday summoned Israel and its Arab antagonists to an unprecedented Middle East peace conference to begin Oct. 30 in Madrid.

The announcement, made in Jerusalem, Washington and Moscow, capped eight months of effort by Secretary of State James A. Baker III to overcome decades of hostility and suspicion to coax Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinians and Israel to the peace table.

A clearly jubilant Baker said in Jerusalem that the conference “holds the hope of a new era in the Middle East . . . marked by acceptance and not rejection . . . dialogue and not violence . . . cooperation and not conflict and the hope of an era marked by hope itself and not despair.”

With Soviet Foreign Minister Boris D. Pankin at his side, Baker announced plans for the conference, although he conceded that the talks “will be extremely difficult.”

The White House and the Kremlin, repeating the Mideast news a little later, also announced that on Oct. 29, before the peace conference begins, President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev will meet in Madrid for a one-day mini-summit, their sixth such meeting since Bush took office.

White House officials sought to minimize the importance of the Bush-Gorbachev meeting, saying they do not expect it to produce a breakthrough on arms control or any other major issue. “This is not going to be a big summit,” a senior Bush aide said.

But the “historic gathering” for the Mideast session would bring with it “the potential to bring true peace and security to the peoples of the area,” the President said in a written statement. He said the peace conference will seek “nothing less than a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” based on U.N. resolutions that embrace the principle of land for peace.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the invitations to the peace conference had been cabled to U.S. embassies in Middle Eastern capitals and were to be hand-delivered, jointly by American and Soviet ambassadors, to heads of state.

But senior Administration officials emphasized that the talks are still unsettled and said the United States has yet to receive any formal response to its invitations.

“I very much hope that all those invited will respond quickly and affirmatively,” Bush said in the statement, “so that the necessary organization and preparations can be completed for this historic undertaking.”

Under the format hammered out by Baker in eight trips to the region since the end of the Persian Gulf War in February, Bush and Gorbachev will preside over a ceremonial opening session.

It will be attended by foreign ministers or officials of similar rank from Israel, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, the European Community, the United States and the Soviet Union. The United Nations and the Saudi Arabian-led Gulf Cooperation Council will be there as observers. U.S. officials said the full conference is expected to last two or three days.

The real work of peace-making will be done in direct talks between Israel and each of its adversaries. Conducted by officials just below the foreign minister rank, this second phase is expected to begin Nov. 3 and would include separate negotiations between Israel and Syria, Israel and Jordan, Israel and Lebanon and Israel and the Palestinians.

If it comes off--and a senior American official repeatedly cautioned that nothing is ever certain in the Middle East--the conference will be the most comprehensive attempt ever made to overcome the region’s festering hatreds, some going back to the 1967 Six-Day War, some to Israel’s founding in 1948, some to the century’s start, some to the Crusades and some to Joshua’s conquest of Jericho.

The only similar attempt was made in 1973, after the Arab-Israeli War, when the United States and the Soviet Union tried to convene a Mideast peace conference. Syria boycotted the talks; the Palestinians were excluded. Israel, Jordan and Egypt attended. The meeting broke down in acrimony after a single day.

Before issuing the invitations, Baker held a final round of talks with Israeli officials and Palestinian leaders. Although he did not fully satisfy either group, Baker concluded that the remaining disagreements were too ingrained to resolve but not crucial enough to scuttle the meeting.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, with Baker at his side, said he is not fully in tune with U.S.-proposed procedures for the talks. But he said he will let his Cabinet decide if Israel will attend. Although Foreign Minister David Levy said he will urge acceptance of the deal, Shamir made no such commitment.

But a senior Israeli official said the Cabinet vote, expected Sunday, is little more than a formality. As for U.S. assurances that Israel had sought, the official said, “We can live with it.”

Palestinians also expressed reservations about conference details but indicated they will attend. “I can’t say that I’m pleased,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a professor who was a member of the Palestinian group that negotiated with Baker over details of Palestinian participation.

Syria, Jordan and Egypt told Baker earlier this week that they will attend.

In the end, Baker was unable to satisfy either Israel or the Palestinians on the emotional matter of Palestinian representation. In their last meeting with Baker on Friday morning, the Palestinians introduced five people who are to be part of the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

Baker said the delegates appear “to meet the parameters . . . that we have been creating for the last six or seven months.” That is a diplomat’s description of individuals who are neither acknowledged members of the Palestine Liberation Organization nor residents of the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Israel refuses to negotiate with members of either group. It considers the PLO to be a terrorist organization and insists that Jerusalem residents have no stake in the talks because Israel will not even discuss any change in the status of the city.

But even if the five people selected so far pass muster, more Palestinians will have to be added before the conference gets under way.

And Palestinian leaders say Israel has no right to veto their delegates. “We say that only the Palestinians can discuss the Palestinian delegation,” said Palestinian spokesman Faisal Husseini. “If any party tries to do so, it will put the peace process in danger.”

Despite Husseini’s defiance, Baker acknowledges that Israel can pull out of the conference if it objects to any of the Palestinian delegates. In deference to Palestinian sensibilities, Baker refused to give Shamir the names he had received from the Palestinians.

With Baker at his side, Shamir said: “The secretary told me that he got a list and, in his opinion, all the requirements about the qualities of these people are satisfying. (But) it is always a problem, and we will have to find ways to check it out, to draw conclusions.”

A senior U.S. official said the Madrid conference will probably consist of only “set piece” speeches by each delegation. But he added that the two or three days that the formal conference will consume will give delegations time to work out details of the bilateral talks.

The official said the United States and the Soviet Union, as co-sponsors, “will serve as a driving force for the process.” He said officials of both superpowers “will be available to push the parties toward accommodation, to try to bridge gaps in the role of honest broker.”

Pankin insisted that both Washington and Moscow will take an even-handed approach, saying: “In the past, the Soviet Union sided with the Palestinians and the Arab states while the United States sided with Israel. That did not bear any practical fruit.”

In an effort to sidestep some of the symbolic issues that have scuttled other international conferences, the official said that no flags will fly at the Madrid meeting and that delegation nameplates will be kept simple and non-controversial.

The formal invitations are remarkably detailed, outlining the objectives that Washington, supported by Moscow, hopes to achieve. For instance, the invitations call on the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a form of limited self-rule for the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip “with the objective of completing this in one year.”

The U.S. plan--similar to the proposal drafted at Camp David, Md., in 1978 but never implemented--calls for a five-year period of Palestinian self-government. It provides that negotiations on the final status of Israeli-occupied territories should begin within three years of the start of the self-rule period.

The United States suggested that two weeks after the conference, the parties should begin regional talks on topics such as water resources, economic development and arms control. Syria said earlier this week that it will refuse to attend the multilateral talks until Israel agrees to return the Golan Heights, which the Israelis captured in 1967. But U.S. officials said they expect all the other parties to the conference to attend the regional talks.

Times staff writer Douglas Jehl, in Washington, contributed to this report.

How the Peace Talks Will Work

The United States and Soviet Union will be hosts for the Middle East peace conference to open on Oct. 30 in Madrid. Announcement of the peace talks followed resumption of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel after a lapse of 24 years.

“The road to peace will not be simple. Old suspicions will not disappear overnight.”

U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III

“History is handing out an opportunity that we must not pass up.”

Soviet Foreign Minister Boris D. Pankin

ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE: Israel

“I think I will recommend to the government that it give its approval because there is no better alternative”

--Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Arab countries

Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon have expressed a willingness to participate. Palestinians will be present as part of the Jordanian delegation.

HOW IT WILL WORK:

The conference will be held in two phases:

Opening. There will be a formal opening in Madrid, with President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev presiding.

Within four days: Bilateral negotiations among the parties. Site to be announced.

SPECIAL PROBLEMS: Syria will not discuss such issues as arms buildups in the Middle East and water scarcities until Israel agrees to return the Golan Heights, occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

The PLO is reluctant about allowing Palestinians to be included as part of the Jordanian delegation and has insisted on separate approval for any statements made on behalf of Palestinians.

Egypt remains the only Arab nation to have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel has refused to discuss the return of occupied lands.