News In Brief

Reagan 'absent' from quest for Mideast peace, rival says

In an address Monday to Jewish supporters, Walter F. Mondale said President Reagan has been ''essentially absent'' from the search for peace in the Middle East and that four more years under his leadership ''will take us closer to the brink'' of war.

Mr. Mondale said he would ''scrap the failed Reagan plan'' for peace in the region and give the new Israeli government time to develop its own policies toward the Arabs. He also said he would move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.