Cabinet Hears Shamir; Some Voice Dissent : Israel: But most members say they are satisfied with the way the Mideast talks are going.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir reported to his Cabinet on Sunday on the Madrid peace talks and found some dissenting voices among his ministers.

Science Minister Yuval Neeman, who played a leading role in Israel’s nuclear weapons program, opposed the talks, warning that Israel is heading for a “very bad collision” with the United States.

The Americans, Neeman said, “are trying to impose a solution not advantageous to Israel which will endanger our existence.”

But most Cabinet members reportedly told Shamir that they are satisfied with the results of the Madrid meetings so far.

The running feud between Shamir and Foreign Minister David Levy continued--with the diplomat sitting silent during the morning meeting.

Levy refused to attend the Madrid talks because of a dispute with Shamir over the composition of the Israeli delegation.

He has been further angered, according to sources close to him, because no Foreign Ministry official was chosen to head a delegation dealing with the various Arab delegations.

And Levy was reportedly further miffed at the Sunday Cabinet meeting when Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan praised the performance of Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s chief spokesman in Madrid. Eitan suggested that Netanyahu be appointed information minister with Cabinet rank--a view sure to enrage Levy, who cordially detests his deputy.

The feud has political implications because the Moroccan-born Levy has a wide following among Sephardic Jews, and they are strong supporters of the current Likud government.

Political observers say that Levy may well challenge Shamir’s leadership of the party--and the country--next year.

Three rightist Cabinet members--Neeman, Eitan and Housing Minister Ariel Sharon--announced Sunday that they will attend the opening of a new Jewish settlement in the occupied Golan Heights today, an act not calculated to please Secretary of State James A. Baker III or the Bush Administration, who oppose the establishment of such communities.

In Lebanon, six days of shelling by Israeli troops and their South Lebanon Army militia allies receded Sunday, and many villagers who had fled Saturday returned to their homes.

The villagers said they had been warned to evacuate their homes in communities believed to be guerrilla strongholds of the Hezbollah (Party of God) before an impending attack on the guerrillas.

Lebanese leaders asserted that the attack was called off when U.S. diplomats pressured Israeli political leaders not to do anything that would disrupt the Madrid meeting.

Defense Minister Moshe Arens refused to confirm or deny the report when asked about it on Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.

But he added that only Israel’s security concerns--and not politics--would determine the army’s course of action in southern Lebanon, where Israel has a “security zone” several miles wide patrolled by Israeli and South Lebanon Army forces.

Israel and its militia allies have accused local Lebanese villagers--and the regular Lebanese army--of not controlling the activities of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrillas.

Meanwhile, a leading Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported that a third test-firing of the U.S.-backed Arrow antimissile missile failed last Wednesday.

Defense Minister Arens declined Sunday to comment on the account but denied that a test failure would jeopardize the billion-dollar program, for which the United States provides 80% of the funds.

“Whoever thinks every test will do what we think it will doesn’t understand development,” he said. “The test’s aim is to learn what the problems are to improve the missile.”

The newspaper said the test-firing against another missile was conducted from a ship in the Mediterranean.