Gore To Press For Terrorism Crackdown

Four days after a bus ambush killed two Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Vice President Al Gore said Thursday he would press Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat to crack down on terrorists.

Gore also pledged terrorists would not derail Middle East peace talks.

Arriving here near the end of a five-nation Mideast trip, Gore was praised as a steadfast supporter of Israel. Before a speech at Hebrew University, Gore was awarded an honorary doctorate and described as one of this generation’s foremost political leaders.

Despite the anticipation of U.S. aid cutbacks to Egypt, Gore said the Clinton administration is committed to maintaining current levels of military and economic assistance to Israel, which totals $3 billion a year.

“We hope - and I was assured by the vice president - that on the part of the administration, the present level of assistance to Israel will be maintained,” Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said after talks with Gore.

The vice president will meet with Arafat today in the PLO-run town of Jericho. Gore said he would urge Arafat “to act decisively against those who reject the peace he has declared.”

In private talks with Gore, Rabin said Arafat would have to take a tough stand against terrorism before Israel would agree to expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

Those comments appeared to contradict the results of a meeting between Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres two weeks ago in which July 1 was set as a target date for reaching an accord for expanding autonomy. Both sides had avoided explicitly setting conditions.

Arafat told reporters outside his headquarters: “We expect (Gore’s) visit and the talks with him to help strengthen and consolidate AmericanPalestinian relations, especially since America is one of the co-sponsors of the peace process.”