A resolution before the American Jewish Congress repeating its call for Israel to withdraw from the riot-torn West Bank and Gaza Strip sharply underlines its difference with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. The United States has long endorsed the principle of exchanging territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War in return for a peace settlement with neighboring Arab states and Palestinians. But Shamir, who is visiting the United States through Monday, has strongly rejected the idea, saying it would endanger the security of the Jewish state because it would put Arabs who dream of Israel's destruction in a better position to carry out their threats. ``The position taken by our organization obviously is not in accord with that taken by Mr. Shamir this past week,'' said Andrea Binder, a spokeswoman for the American Jewish Congress, which opens a meeting here Sunday. ``We issued a statement in September which called for territorial compromise and endorsed an international peace conference. The resolution that will be voted on next week will reaffirm (the earlier) resolution,'' she said prior to the gathering. Another resolution will specifically endorse the complex peace plan proposed by Secretary of State George P. Shultz in the face of Arab rioting in the territories and measures by Israeli security forces to suppress the uprising. A third resolution will ``discuss Arab and specifically Palestinian intransigence in coming to the negotiating table,'' she said. Shamir's visit is expected to be discussed throughout the four-day convention, which will be attended by about 400 to 500 delegates. The American Jewish Congress, which has 50,000 members, was the first major American Jewish organization to favor a compromise in the Israeli-occupied territories, Ms. Binder said. The group's statement last year underscored divisions among America's Jews about the issue. Last Monday, Shamir preceded his meeting with President Reagan by saying he was outraged by the United States' suggestions of a withdrawal from the occupied territories. He said a withdrawal ``inevitably'' would invite new Arab attempts to destroy Israel and that he was ``astounded'' at the short memories of withdrawal proponents. Four days later, Shamir flatly rejected a U.S. proposal for a full-scale Mideast conference, saying that such a conference would give the Soviet Union and its Arab allies too much influence, and might force Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories. His Labor Party counterpart in Israel's coalition government, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, is agreeable to such a conference, without which Jordan's King Hussein won't come to the table. Reflecting sharp disagreement with Shamir, Reagan said: ``Those who will say no to the U.S. plan _ and the prime minister has not used this word _ need not answer to us. They'll need to answer to themselves and their people as to why they turned down a realistic plan to achieve negotiations.''
