Israel Shamir Molds a Peace Plan

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.