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ment, by which they sought
to demonstrate that Israel
does indeed have credible
Arab negotiating partners
and that the Peres strategy
was, after all, alive.
The second, an act of both
symbolic and practical impor-
tance, was their approval of
the appointment of Arie
Levin, one of Israel's most
senior career diplomats, to
head the Israeli consular
delegation in Moscow.
So far, the dialogue between
Soviet and Israeli officials has
been limited to consular and
technical matters, but Levin's
presence in Moscow will un-
doubtedly raise the profile of
the Israeli mission and, in the
absence of formal diplomatic
relations, will provide a con-,
duit for a direct political
dialogue between the two
states.
According to Dr. Galia
Golan, a senior Soviet speci-
alist at the Hebrew Universi-
ty of Jerusalem, Moscow's
conduct is an indication that
the glow of glasnost will con-
tinue to inform its relations
with Israel, irrespective of the
state of political affairs in
Israel or the nature of the
government in power.
It is significant, she told
me, that the Soviets finally
acquiesced in Israel's demand
to send a reciprocal consular
delegation to Moscow in Feb-
ruary — at the height of the
intifada and at a moment
when Israel was firmly
locked in the international
dog-house.
"I reached the conclusion
then," she says, "that the
Soviets had determined their
policy and that they were go-
ing to follow it through, step
by step, no matter what else
was going on.
"They certainly want an
international conference, but
their policy is also intended
to improve relations with the
Western world and what they
call 'capitalist countries of
the developing world? "
Ultimately, however, the
Soviets hope that the flurry of
superpower diplomatic activi-
ty in the region will crack the
deadlock open wide enough
to allow for new beginnings,
whatever government holds
power in Israel.
Indeed, a joint American-
Soviet approach now seems
more likely than ever follow-
ing an important break-
through in the United States
late last month.
The United States has al-
ways strenuously resisted at-
tempts to involve the United
Nations Security Council in
the Arab- Israeli conflict, but
at a meeting of foreign min-
isters of the five permanent
members last month, Wash-
ington abandoned its long-
standing policy.
The United States, it is
understood, has now decided
to develop a coordinated ap-
proach to the conflict, pos-
sibly involving China,
France, Britain and, of
course, the Soviet Union.
After the meeting, Soviet
Deputy Foreign Minister
Vladimir Petrovsky, revealed
that a consensus was develop-
ing on a multilateral ap-
proach to the region: "If you
look at the map of crisis sit-
uations," he said in an inter-
view, "it is being filled with
solutions. The Middle East is
the exception."
According to reports in Lon-
don, the five ministers agreed
to keep the new U.S. position
secret because, according to
one diplomat, any suggestion
of Soviet involvement in Mid-
dle East talks would have
been "like a stick of dynamite
in the Bush campaign."