ISRAEL ENDS BAN ON PLO CONTACTS PALESTINIANS HAIL VOTE AS STEP TOWARD PEACE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 20, 1993                   TAG: 9301200169
SECTION: MISCELLANEOUS                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JERUSALEM                                LENGTH: Medium
ISRAEL ENDS BAN ON PLO CONTACTS PALESTINIANS HAIL VOTE AS STEP TOWARD PEACE
In what could be a boost to Middle East peace talks, lawmakers on Tuesday abolished a 7-year-old law barring Israelis from meeting with members of the PLO.
The 39-20 vote in the 120-member Parliament followed four hours of debate in which the right-wing opposition vainly tried to water down the government bill. Many legislators left after it became clear the government would win.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin opposes direct negotiations between the Israeli government and the PLO, but not Israelis meeting with PLO members informally.
Tuesday's vote annulled a 1986 amendment to Israel's anti-terror law that barred Israelis from meeting with members of terror organizations. Israel classifies the PLO as such a group.
In Tunis, Tunisia, the Palestine Liberation Organization welcomed the decision and appealed to President-elect Clinton to restore contacts with the organization.
PLO spokesman Bassam Abu-Sharif praised the vote as "a new, real and serious step toward establishing a just and comprehensive peace in the region."
He renewed a call to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Perez to meet with PLO officials with a view to preparing a "summit" between PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and Rabin.
The vote could help Israel in its effort to stem the rising influence of Muslim fundamentalists, who oppose peace talks and vie with the PLO to lead Arab in the occupied territory.
Liberal legislator Dedi Zucker said he expected Tuesday's vote would help "create a better atmosphere for the peace talks. This will also counter the demonization of the PLO practiced here for so many years."
Hanan Ashrawi, spokeswoman for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks, said Israel's action will "go a long way toward creating a better understanding of the PLO . . . and improving chances for peace."
However, the Palestinians remain determined to boycott peace talks until Israel repatriates more than 400 Palestinians it expelled last month to south Lebanon, Ashrawi said.
Israel says those exiled were Muslim fundamentalists who endangered Israeli security and the peace talks.
The stalemate is the latest in Israel's negotiations with Palestinians and Arab neighbors Jordan, Syria and Lebanon since they began in late October 1991.
Israeli peace activist Abie Nathan, who was imprisoned more than a year for making PLO contacts, said he would fly to Tunis today to ask Arafat for a conciliatory gesture toward Israel.
"This is a very serious step we took, and I hope he will do something in return to maintain the momentum," Nathan told Israel radio.
Israeli liberals have increasingly called for direct negotiations with the PLO to strengthen Palestinian moderates who support the Mideast peace talks.
A recent survey indicated nearly half of Israeli legislators favor direct talks with the PLO, including two-thirds of the lawmakers from the Labor Party.
But Rabin remains staunchly opposed, arguing such contacts would force Israel to deal immediately with Palestinian demands for an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel is committed to negotiating an interim settlement of Palestinian autonomy before discussing the final status of the occupied lands.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB