1985

Two major developments occurred in the course of 1985. The first was the decision to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon and the completion of the withdrawal once it was approved by the Inner Cabinet. The second was unrelated, but weighed heavily on the peace process. King Hussein and Yasser Arafat concluded an accord in February that attempted to coordinate their efforts in possible future negotiations with Israel (document 42). It became apparent that Jordan could not make a meaningful move unless it was approved by both the PLO and Syria. Both favoured negotiations in the framework of an international peace conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Israel rejected the idea of a settlement through an international conference. But on the matter of an opening international "event" or "ceremony", there developed strong differences of opinion between the prime minister and the foreign minister. Mr. Shamir speaking for the Likud, rejected the notion of any international conference while Mr. Peres, speaking for Labour, thought that Israel could accept an opening event leading to direct negotiations on bi-lateral issues. As long as the PLO was seen by Jordan as the Palestinian partner for the talks with Israel, there could be little chance for residents of the areas under Israeli control for speaking for themselves.