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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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021389
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02138900.025
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1990-09-17
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WORLD, Page 53ISRAELShamir Molds a Peace PlanBut he offers no real concessions to Palestinians
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has an image problem. Ever since
Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat enticed
the U.S. into a dialogue in December, Israel has been on the
diplomatic defensive. With Shamir scheduled to visit Washington in
March, he is eager to counter with some move of his own, and he
has been signaling that he will arrive with an imaginative peace
plan in his hip pocket. Meantime, he has been raising expectations
by doling out hints about his forthcoming initiative.
Last week Shamir said that the Israeli army would withdraw from
"several urban centers" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
once the 1.7 million Palestinians living there accepted limited
autonomy. Then, Shamir said, Israel would pursue direct
negotiations with Arab states and elected Palestinian
"representatives."
Shamir's sneak preview, however, offered nothing really new.
Palestinian autonomy and negotiations on a final settlement five
years later are ideas drawn from the 1978 Camp David accords, and
Arab leaders, except Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, have
adamantly rejected them all along. Nor are any leaders suddenly
likely to embrace such a peace plan, especially now that the P.L.O.
has launched its own diplomatic initiative.
Last month Shamir suggested for the first time that the United
Nations could play a strictly limited role in launching peace
negotiations. All these hints appear designed to achieve two
things: pre-empt any peace proposals from the Bush Administration
that might entail U.S. pressure on Israel -- though there is no
sign that any proposals are being seriously considered -- and lob
responsibility for rejecting peace talks back into the Palestinian
court.
So far, Shamir has given no sign he is willing to make real
concessions to the Palestinians. He is strongly against any
substantive international role in Middle East talks as well as any
dealings with the P.L.O. Most important of all, Shamir absolutely
opposes giving up control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Prime Minister's belated attachment to Camp David is
particularly curious since he originally denounced the accord as
a sellout to the Arabs and abstained when it was approved by the
Knesset. Moreover, pushing provisions that Palestinian leaders are
sure to reject puts him all the more out of step as he unfurls his
peace initiative.