Shamir Balks at Pressure for Early Decision on Meeting Palestinians

JERUSALEM —  Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on Sunday rejected domestic and U.S. pressure for a quick decision on opening historic talks with Palestinians.

Cabinet ministers of Shamir’s rightist Likud Party rebelled publicly against a U.S. call for Israel finally to make a decision, and leaders of its Labor coalition partner were split on whether to extend a Wednesday deadline they have set.

“We are discussing now these proposals and these plans concerning our peace process, and after we will end all these discussions, we will take a decision,” Shamir told reporters. “It is hard to say if it will be this week or later.”

Shamir’s comments and the open battle inside Likud undermined earlier reports that the prime minister was ready to approve Israeli-Palestinian talks in Cairo on implementing his initiative for elections in the occupied territories.

Labor Party leader Shimon Peres has insisted that the government decide on its response to the U.S. proposals by Wednesday, but Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said the decision could wait until early next week.

In remarks bound to further strain relations with the United States, Shamir said the government will continue to direct Soviet Jewish immigrants to Jerusalem, including Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem. The United States opposes such a policy.

Without mentioning his name, Shamir criticized President Bush for saying there should be no new settlements in East Jerusalem, captured in the 1967 Middle East War.