U.S. to Host Talks to Raise Funds for Palestinians : Aid: Wealthiest nations will be invited. Christopher emphasizes that Israelis’ security is at stake as well.

The United States will call top-level representatives of the world’s wealthiest nations to a conference here designed to raise money to help ensure that the historic Israeli-PLO peace accord quickly improves the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Monday.

The Clinton Administration would contribute $250 million to the Palestinians over the next two years, including $100 million in loan guarantees and $150 million in cash, Christopher said. The money would come from the regular foreign aid budget, meaning that aid for other countries would have to be reduced accordingly, other senior Administration officials said.

The $3 billion annual allocation for Israel--by far the largest amount to any nation--would remain unchanged, those officials said.

“The international community must move immediately to see that the agreement produces tangible improvements in the security and daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis,” Christopher said. Although all of the new money will be earmarked for Palestinian self-government, officials said, Israelis will benefit from reduced tensions if the peace plan succeeds.

“All agree that we must take immediate steps to address the high rate of unemployment that robs families of hope and fuels extremism,” Christopher said. “All roads and other permanent improvements must be developed quickly. We must also act now to provide assistance in public administration, tax collection and social services.”

No date was set for the fund-raising conference, although Administration officials said it probably will be held late next week or early the following one, when a large number of foreign and finance ministers already will be in the United States to attend meetings of the U.N. General Assembly and the board of governors of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Foreign ministers and finance ministers from the European Community, Japan, Saudi Arabia, other Persian Gulf states, Canada, the Nordic countries and other nations have been invited.

Christopher announced the conference in a speech at Columbia University in New York. He touched on several other foreign policy issues--including Washington’s inability to impose a settlement in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The speech was the first in a weeklong series of addresses by top Administration officials to define the Administration’s foreign policy.

National Security Adviser Anthony Lake is scheduled to address the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University today, and U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright is scheduled to speak in New York on Thursday. Clinton climaxes the series Monday with an address to the U.N. General Assembly.

U.S. officials already had committed Washington to taking the lead in securing the money needed to make a success of Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank territories.

On Monday, Christopher said estimates have varied widely on the amount of money the Palestinians will need. He cited a World Bank estimate that at least $3 billion in infrastructure spending will be needed in the next 10 years.

Although most of his remarks Monday concerned the Israeli-PLO accord, he also asserted that the United States cannot count on the United Nations or other multinational organizations to keep order in the post-Cold War world. Those bodies, he said, often are unwilling to take military action except in instances where the United States demonstrates that it is prepared to do the job by itself if necessary.

“One of the lessons of the first eight months in office is that although there are many opportunities for multilateral responses, very frequently they require the leadership of the United States,” he said.

Applying that rule to the Bosnian crisis, Christopher said he saw little chance that the warring factions could be forced to accept a settlement because the United States is unwilling to commit troops.