Clinton Refurbishes Ties to Israel, Assures Rabin of Security Backing : Diplomacy: In contrast to Bush’s style, President praises the prime minister’s goals for Mideast peace talks.

President Clinton refurbished the traditionally warm U.S.-Israel relationship Monday, assuring visiting Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Washington’s support for Israel’s security and pledging new cooperation in science and technology to help Jerusalem build its civilian economy.

In sharp contrast to former President George Bush’s evenhanded approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Clinton endorsed many of Rabin’s goals for the peace talks scheduled to resume next month and promised that the United States will compensate Jerusalem if Israel negotiates agreements with the Arabs that put its own security at risk.

“This year will be a year of enhanced relations between our countries,” Clinton said. “It should also be a year of peace in the Middle East.”

The words from the White House may erode Arab confidence in U.S. mediation. Arab delegates to the peace talks were already wary of Clinton because of what they considered one-sided pro-Israel campaign rhetoric, but they had expressed hope that the President would adopt a more neutral stance once he took office.

In his meeting with Rabin, Clinton dismissed Palestinian pleas for him to intercede to speed the return of almost 400 Palestinian activists who were exiled by Israel in December to a snowy camp in southern Lebanon.

“We did not discuss that,” Clinton said. “As far as I’m concerned, the secretary of state and the prime minister reached agreement on that. And I think that is the framework within which we are proceeding.”

The President was referring to a plan devised last month by Rabin and Secretary of State Warren Christopher that would release 101 of the Palestinians at once and guarantee that the rest would be allowed to return home before the end of this year. The Palestinian delegation to the peace talks said last week that the formula was unsatisfactory, and it vowed to boycott the negotiations until the issue is resolved.

“We hope very much that the Palestinians will come to the table,” Clinton said, while making it clear that he would not ask Israel to make any new concessions to attract them.

Clinton and Rabin announced creation of a joint U.S.-Israel science and technology commission to sponsor high-technology cooperation between the two countries, arrange exchanges between U.S. and Israeli universities, develop agricultural and environmental programs and devise ways of converting defense plants to civilian products. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown was named chairman of the U.S. delegation.

And the President assured Israel of continued military and economic aid in the $3-billion-a-year range, the highest level of U.S. assistance for any nation.

The Rabin meeting was one of an accelerating series of sessions that Clinton is holding with foreign leaders as he turns more attention overseas despite his pledge to focus “like a laser” on domestic economic concerns.

In the last two weeks, Clinton has met with British Prime Minister John Major and French President Francois Mitterrand. He plans talks later this week with exiled Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds and European Community President Jacques Delors.

Clinton is also preparing for the April 3-4 summit with Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin in Vancouver, Canada, and early April meetings with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.

“To the degree we can keep the focus on the economy, we will,” said White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. “But the President will continue to tie these things (foreign and domestic issues) together. He will try to make the case that things like aid to Russia and military base closings are related and don’t exist in a vacuum.”

Although Rabin enjoyed a cordial relationship with Bush after the open friction between Bush and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the Israeli leader basked in the warmer atmosphere of his session with Clinton.

“Israel has a friend in the White House,” he said.

Times staff writer John M. Broder contributed to this report.