Word: shamir
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Immediately after hearing Rabin's message, the Bush Administration moved to reconstruct ties that were badly strained under Rabin's predecessor, Yitzhak Shamir of the right-wing Likud party. Bush dispatched Secretary of State James Baker to meet with the new Israeli administration and arrange for the next round of regional peace talks, scheduled to take place in Rome in a month or two. Given Rabin's pledge to slow construction of settlements in the occupied territories, Israeli and American officials expressed confidence that Washington would approve at least part of the $10 billion in loan guarantees Jerusalem is seeking...
...much so that President Hosni Mubarak invited the new Prime Minister to Egypt for a summit this week. The reaction of the rest of the Arab world, however, was markedly jaundiced. The cool response in part reflected a realization that the Arab side is on the spot. When Shamir was in power, the peace process was a bit of a joke. Now that Israel appears to be serious about it, the Arab parties are in the unaccustomed situation of having to get serious about peace themselves. (See related story on page...
Each party has its own agenda and political constraints in approaching the others. Rabin has three immediate priorities, all linked: quick progress with the Palestinians; repairing the damage done to Israel's ties with Washington during the tenure of his predecessor, Yitzhak Shamir; rerouting Israeli shekels from building settlements in the occupied territories to creating jobs and absorbing immigrants...
...agreement on autonomy ought to be reasonably easy to reach. While Shamir's government did little to narrow the gap between its modest notions of self-rule and the demands by the Palestinians for a virtually sovereign state, Rabin suggests he will offer a relatively generous deal, giving the Palestinians control over everything but security, foreign affairs, borders and Jewish settlements. The danger is that the Palestinians, flushed with hope, will demand still more. But with Washington in full accord, Rabin could well fulfill his campaign promise to strike a deal within a year...
...improve Israel's strained relations with Washington and prod the Bush Administration into reconsidering the $10 billion in loan guarantees Jerusalem wants to help resettle Russian Jews. Insofar as the settlement imbroglio was part of a campaign to show Israeli voters that the U.S. relationship was in jeopardy under Shamir, it has done its work. In part, the President simply likes Rabin better than the stubborn Shamir; moreover, caught in a tough presidential race, Bush would like to repair his relations with American Jewish voters...