U.S. Acting as Go-Between in Jordan Talks, Peres Says

JERUSALEM —  Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Parliament on Tuesday that the United States is acting as go-between in peace talks between Israel and Jordan to pave the way for face-to-face negotiations.

In a final policy statement before swapping jobs next week with Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Peres called on Shamir to maintain the momentum toward peace in the Mideast when he becomes prime minister.

Peres made peace efforts the centerpiece of his two-year government and said repeatedly that he will break up the coalition if Shamir fails to pursue efforts to start negotiations between Israel and the Arabs.

Peres told Parliament that, although he did not achieve his goal of talks with King Hussein, Jordan has agreed to direct negotiations.

“We have not yet reached the negotiating table, but the door has been opened,” Peres said in his 25-minute speech.

“Between Israel and Jordan, negotiations are under way, via the United States,” to prepare future peace talks, he said.

U.S. officials have gone back and forth between Israel and Jordan in recent years in an effort to launch peace talks, but Peres’ speech was the first time he has publicly indicated that the Americans were succeeding in bringing Israeli and Jordanian officials together.

U.S. Embassy officials in Tel Aviv declined to comment on Peres’ remarks.

Peres will step down Friday to clear the way for Shamir to become prime minister Oct. 14, according to a power-sharing agreement between Peres’ Labor Alignment and Shamir’s Likud Bloc.

The prime minister called on Shamir to “preserve the climate of dialogue” with moderate Arab states and to “maintain the momentum toward peace.”

He asked Shamir for compromise, saying “there is no such thing as a one-sided peace. It’s not an embarrassment to take this into consideration.”

“Three Arab states, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, have stated their readiness for direct negotiations,” he said. “There are other Arab states that support such negotiations, though not publicly.”

Peres said the only thing needed now to start peace talks is an international forum and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation with which to bargain.

Shamir opposed Peres’ accord at a summit last month with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to convene an international peace conference. He views direct talks with Israel’s Arab neighbors as the only way to achieve peace.

On Tuesday, Peres did not repeat Israel’s longstanding rejection of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a representative for Palestinians in peace negotiations.

He said Palestinians who “don’t threaten terror” could join in negotiations and called on Palestinian representatives to come forward “with opinions but without pistols, without threats, without dictates.”