Shamir Says He Plans to Hold Self-Rule Talks

JERUSALEM â€”  Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir told three U.S. senators Friday that once Israel restores order in the West Bank and Gaza Strip it will propose negotiations to establish Palestinian self-rule in those occupied territories.

Shamir’s surprise statement contained no details, such as who the negotiating partners would be or whether any talks on the subject would take up where similar negotiations between Egypt and Israel broke off in 1981.

Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) quoted Shamir as telling him and two other visiting senators that he would propose talks on establishing local Palestinian autonomy within the framework of the 1978 Camp David accords.

May Provide Impetus

“Maybe the (Palestinian) disturbances will provide the impetus to move this (autonomy) process forward,� D’Amato said.

As part of the accords agreed to at Camp David among President Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Egypt and Israel began talks in 1979 aimed at creating self-governing Palestinian councils in the West Bank and Gaza.

The talks, held in both Israel and Egypt as negotiators shuttled between the two countries, floundered for months and eventually broke off because of an inability to resolve disputes over what powers and responsibilities should be accorded Palestinian councils.

Shamir said Thursday there would never be a Palestinian state in the territories, a policy long adhered to by his Likud Bloc.

D’Amato, accompanied by Sens. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), arrived in Israel on Friday, the fifth stop on their tour of the Middle East.