U.S. ASSERTS ISRAEL CAN'T VETO TALKS WITH PALESTINIANS

REJECTION OF LIST AT ISSUE — Washington Clearly Annoyed at Reaction to the Names Submitted by Arafat

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WASHINGTON, July 18 — The Reagan Administration said today that while it would take the views of Israel into account, it would not give it a veto over whether the United States should meet with a joint Jordanian-Palestinian group to set the stage for eventual peace talks with Israel.

A State Department spokesman asserted that if such a meeting would advance the prospects for direct negotiations between Israel and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, “we will do it.” “If it will hinder the goal of direct negotiations,” the spokesman, Robert M. Smalley, said, “that obviously is something we will try to avoid.”

Annoyed by Israeli Rejection Evidently annoyed by reports that Israeli leaders had rejected a list of seven candidates suggested by Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the State Department also sought to reassure Jordan that the United States remained interested in such a meeting.

“In considering the prospect of a meeting between the United States and a Jordanian-Palestinian group, we will be guided by these considerations,” Mr. Smalley said. “Our decision will be taken in light of consultations with our friends in the area, but it will be our decision.” He put particular emphasis each time on the word “our.”

“The question of a veto over our decisions by one or another of the parties has come up,” he said, alluding to Israel. “This is not the way we proceed.” Arab Paper Publishes List In Jerusalem, an Arab newspaper published a list of the proposed Palestinian candidates. The Israelis rejected the list Wednesday after they got it from the American chargé d'affaires.

Today, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and an official close to Prime Minister Shimon Peres denounced the list as an effort to legitimize the P.L.O. [Page A6.] American officials said the decision on what to do about a meeting with a Palestinian-Jordanian group would be made in coming days. Secretary of State George P.

Shultz is to return soon from an Asian tour, and Richard W. Murphy Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, returns from vacation on Friday.

They will have to look at the names, consider the Israeli reaction, and decide whether to set the date for a meeting, decide against a meeting or seek further names and clarifications from the Jordanians, State Department officials said. On Wednesday, the United States provided Israel with the list of Palestinians, which had been submitted by King Hussein of Jordan.

He, in turn, had been given the list by Mr. Arafat last week. From the list, about four were to be chosen for inclusion in the Jordanian-Palestinian group. Israeli officials immediately denounced the list as including members of the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestine National Council, the legislative arm of the P.L.O.

The United States has said it would not deal with P.L.O. members but would consider talking to council members who are not members of the organization. The names on the list published in Israel were confirmed by American officials.

Names and Backgrounds Listed Here are the seven Palestinians and their backgrounds, as made available by the Palestine Research and Education Center in Washington: Khaled al-Hassan, a founder of Al Fatah, the leading organization affiliated with the P.L.O., who is currently the chief foreign affairs spokesman for the Palestine National Council.

Faiz Abu Rahmeh, former head of the bar association in the Gaza Strip. Hatem Husseini, former head of the Palestine Information Office in Washington and a member of the Palestine National Council, who now teaches at Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C.

Saleh al-Taamri, member of Al Fatah, former P.L.O. leader in southern Lebanon, who is married to a former wife of King Hussein; he lives in Tunis. Nabil Shaat, member of the Palestine National Council, prominent member of the P.L.O. and close adviser to Mr. Arafat; he lives in Cairo. Hanna Seniora, editor of the Arab newspaper Al Fajr, published in East Jerusalem.

Henry Kattan, lawyer and historian, who lives in Paris. Of the names published in Israel, and confirmed here, three seemed to meet the American conditions: Mr. Abu Rahmeh, Mr. Seniora, and Mr. Kattan. The others appear to be known for their P.L.O. affiliation. For example, Mr. Hassan, as a founding member of Al Fatah, and Mr.

Shaat, as a P.L.O. leader, are evidently unacceptable. So are Mr. Husseini, the former head of the Palestinian Information Office here, and Mr. Taamri, the former guerrilla chief. Within hours, Prime Minister Peres said on television that he found the Palestinians unacceptable.

Foreign Minister Shamir, who is known to oppose any such talks by the United States, was even harsher in his comments.

How this transcription was made

Assembled from 2 scans: s073_1 is the Page A1 column, s073_2 is the jump on Page A6. The jump scan carries a Fresh Air Fund house advertisement at the foot of column one; excluded. — A genuine deck: a caps bank between rules under the main headline, then a third bank in smaller type. Both transcribed above in order. — Two clippings of one article, joined into a single image for the record (s073_1.png, s073_2.png).

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"U.S. ASSERTS ISRAEL CAN'T VETO TALKS WITH PALESTINIANS," The New York Times, 19 July 1985, p. A1, continued on Page A6, Column 5. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1985-039. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1985-039