Word: shamir
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...usually inflexible Shamir faces a decision that is existential as well as strategic. He cannot put Israel, the refuge of the Jewish people, in danger by compromising its security. Neither can he pass up a real opportunity to create a peace that could enhance the nation's safety. He would like to get far enough into negotiations to examine his prospects but also leave himself a way out if pressures get too heavy...
...past, Shamir had no appetite for talks. He was determined not to give up "one square inch" of occupied territory in return for peace with the Arabs. He even opposed the 1978 Camp David settlement with Egypt. Now, says Ehud Olmert, director of the government press office, the Prime Minister can take a chance. "Shamir has no problem," Olmert says. "We're not talking < about giving up Jewish settlements on the West Bank. We're not talking about giving up Jerusalem...
...Arabs have let Shamir arrange the chairs at the conference to suit himself. All sides have accepted the idea that the peace process will move in stages, with the first one intended to provide Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with local self-government, not an independent state. The Palestine Liberation Organization is ruled out of the talks, and, if Shamir has his way, overt representatives of East Jerusalem will be too. The peace conference will serve only to start bilateral talks and will have no authority to make decisions...
...part, Israel is not required by Bush's proposal to agree to trade any territory for peace or to halt its construction of new settlements on the West Bank. "I don't believe in territorial compromise," Shamir insisted last week. Baker delivered an Arab offer to suspend the 43-year economic boycott of Israel in return for putting the settlements on hold. Jerusalem rejected...
...Shamir's credo is that Arabs hate Israelis until proved otherwise. This belief impels him to seek concrete evidence of Syria's sincerity, something he can obtain only by moving to the peace table. His instinct is to delay, but he fears that he might squander the best chance Israel has seen to make peace. "We must start negotiations," Shamir said Friday, "and we want to start them...