Hijacking Strengthens Israeli-Soviet Ties

JERUSALEM--Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday that the Soviet Union's enthusiastic response to Israel's help in the return of four hijackers has given "new significance" to relations with Moscow.

Peres also noted in a radio interview that Israel agreed to the speedy return of the hijackers to the Soviet Union Saturday after receiving written assurances they wouldn't face the death penalty.

"The Soviets promised us in writing that these people wouldn't be executed and so there was no point in delaying or complicating the process," he said on Army radio.

The return of the hijackers ended a drama that began Thursday, when four armed Soviets seized a busload of schoolchildren in southern Russia, then traded them for a plane out of the country and a $3.3 million ransom. The hijackers surrendered shortly after arriving in Israel Friday evening.

Peres cited the reaction of Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, who personally thanked the chief of an Israeli consular delegation in Moscow, Aryeh Levine, for Israel's help in the affair.

Shevardnadze was the highest ranking Soviet official to meet Levine since the Israeli delegates arrived in Moscow in July.

Shevardnadze was quoted by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alon Liel as expressing to Levine "the thanks and deep appreciation of the Soviet government and Soviet people regarding the noble way the government of Israel has dealt with this barbaric act."

Peres said Shevardnadze's gesture was "almost without precedent in our relations with the Soviet Union in recent years. I want to hope this has a significance beyond the event of the day."

"The representations in Israel and Moscow now have a new significance," Peres said. He referred to the Israeli delegation in Moscow and a Soviet consular delegation that has been in Tel Aviv since July 1987.

Levine said on the radio that in his meeting with Shevardnadze, he told the Soviet leader "we would be very happy to have more or less normal relations. Normal is a very acceptable term in the Soviet Union and I took advantage of this opportunity to use it."

The Soviet Union broke diplomatic ties with Israel during the 1967 Middle East War, but has gradually warmed relations over the last two years, with the exchange of consular delegations and a liberalization of Jewish emigration permits.

Israeli newspapers also echoed Peres' hopes that the weekend hijacking drama, which involved unusual diplomatic exchanges between the Israeli and Soviet governments, would improve ties with Moscow.

The daily Haaretz ran a front-page analysis entitled: "The Plane Fell Like a Blessing From Heaven." An analysis in the daily Hadashot was headlined: "Israel Scores Many Points at a Low Price."

Eitan Golan, who headed the Israeli police team that questioned the hijackers, said one of them, whom he did not identify, threatened to commit suicide if he was returned to the Soviet Union.

Golan also quoted the hijackers as saying they chose Israel for asylum because they knew Israel and the Soviet Union lacked diplomatic ties and they counted on the fact that Israel would not hand them over.

Golan said the hijackers seemed nervous but cooperated fully with investigators.

"My impression is that this wasn't the most sophisticated group in the world," he said.