Israeli parties move closer to agreement

Press, 14 August 1984, Page 10

Israeli parties move closer to agreement

NZPA-Reuter Tel Aviv

Israel’s two main parties are closer to agreement on a national-unity Government and will set up subcommittees to hammer out differences to end a threeweek political stalemate. The Labour opposition and the Right-wing Likud bloc met yesterday for the fifth time for talks and agreed sub-committees on economic and foreign affairs would meet.

The highly-sensitive issue of who will head a unity Government, once it is formed, has not been raised in the Likud-Labour talks.

Speaking to reporters after the discussions, a Labour spokesman said: “These teams will speed up efforts to form a unity Government and will determine once and for all how serious the Likud is to get together with us.”

Labour officials accuse Likud, headed by the care-

taker Prime Minister, Mr Yitzhak Shamir, of stalling the talks. Labour won 44 seats to Likud’s 41 in last, month’s General Election for Israel’s 120 Parliamentary seats. The Labour leader, Mr Shimon Peres, nominated by

President Chaim Herzog to form a Government, has met nearly all 15 parties in the splintered Government. According to State radio and television, the question of Israeli settlement of the occupied Arab West Bank and Gaza continues to be a chief difference between the parties. Mr Shamir was quoted at the talks as saying Likud would “never agree to freeze the establishment of new settlements in the occupied areas.” Mr Peres was said to have replied that settlement must be curtailed. Fresh controversy arose when the State radio reported the Likud caretaker Government had received an Army plan for a withdrawal from Lebanon over six weeks, possibly starting next month.

However, the Defence Minister, Mr Moshe Arens, has denied that withdrawal plans are under review.