Rabin Heads for U.S. to Mend Relations : Israel: New prime minister will try to get commitment on loan guarantees. At home, opposition flares over curbing of settlements.

Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin departed Israel on Thursday for a fence-mending visit to the United States and left behind right-wing opponents seething over his policy to curtail building in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Rabin, in power less than a month, hopes to align Israeli and American policy toward Middle East peace talks. He takes with him a new approach to negotiations with Palestinians and indications of a sharp turn away from policies of the previous government, which sought to populate the disputed territory with tens of thousands of Israeli settlers--a program designed to preclude a surrender of land in any peace agreement.

The settlement issue strained relations between the previous prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, and President Bush, who withheld backing for economic development loans on the grounds that expansion of settlements undermined the chances of compromise at the Middle East peace talks.

Rabin, who was ambassador to Washington 18 years ago, will try to obtain a commitment on the guarantees. American backing would make the loans cheaper and easier to get on the international market, but officials here cautioned that Rabin expects to get no more than agreement in principle, with details to be ironed out later.

The prime minister was quoted as telling members of Parliament, “The loan guarantees from the United States are not yet in hand, but I hope things will be summarized during my trip.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin told reporters: “I believe that success (for Rabin) will mean that the U.S. Administration and public opinion will understand the depth of change in Israeli policy.”

Israel had requested backing for loans totaling $10 billion over five years, but the amount may be scaled back because of a decrease in Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union. In addition, there is disagreement on the precise target of the proceeds, with Washington pressing Israel to use the loans to lay the groundwork for private investment.

Rabin has been taking steps to restrain the expansion of settlements but has not frozen construction completely. Although new contracts for housing have been canceled, building already under way is going ahead, and expansion of settlements near Jerusalem and Bethlehem have been exempted.

In a visit to Israel last month, Secretary of State James A. Baker III praised Rabin for altering previous government policy as well as for pledging to speed up the peace talks, which are set to resume in Washington later this month. Rabin is preparing to offer Palestinians elections for an executive assembly that would implement self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza, officials said. Phased Palestinian control over daily life would precede final negotiations over sovereignty in the disputed land.

During his one-week tour, Rabin will meet with U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former President Richard M. Nixon, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and Jewish leaders. He will step into the middle of the American presidential campaign when he meets with Democratic candidate Bill Clinton. He travels to Bush’s summer home in Kennebunkport, Me., on Monday.

A meeting between Rabin and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney is expected to focus on new directions for the two countries’ military alliance, now that the American rivalry with the Soviet Union in the Middle East has ended.

Right-wing opponents of Rabin rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday and accused him of caving into American pressure. The crowd of 4,000 chanted “Rabin go home!” as speaker after speaker pledged to continue putting Israeli neighborhoods in the West Bank, Gaza and Arab districts of Jerusalem.