FOCUS Gorbachev And Bush Continued from preceding page INCREDIBLE SAVINGS! 5 0- 70 OFF EVERYTHING IN OUR CLEARANCE CENTER FRIDAY-SATURDAY SUNDAY Barbara and George Bush celebrate his election victory. The Soviets are waiting to make a Middle East deal. DAYS ONLY! FARMINGTON HILLS INDUSTRIAL CENTER a 0 a H 0 N H ALSTEAD ROA D IMMEDIATE DELIVERY NOMINAL CHARGE SHERWOOD CLEARANCE CENTER C RESTVIEW CT. NOVEMBER 18-19-20 FRI 5-9 PM SAT 10-5 SUN 12-4 0 0 c3 0 SHERWOOD STUDIOS CLEARANCE CENTER TEN MILE ROAD 24734 CRESTVIEW CT. FARMINGTON HILLS PHONE: 354-9060 PRIOR TO SALE 476-3760 DAYS OF SALE Tables • Desks Wall Units Bedrooms Dining Rooms For Appt. Call 52 10 Years Experience & Expertise in the Design of Affordable Laminate, Lucite & Wood Furniture Muriel Wetsman FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1988 661-3838 , 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."