Israel would be willing to accept any one of three possible arrangements under which it would quit its positions commanding the Straits of Tiran in the Akaba area, Israel officials asserted here last night. Without one of these solutions, they said, Israel would not withdraw from the area. They are:
1. That the United Nations Emergency Force occupy the islands of Tiran and Sinafir and the east coast of the Sinai Peninsula under a clear mandate from the General Assembly that its “task is. to prevent the renewal of the blockade and that it stays there until other arrangements are made for the safeguarding of freedom of passage”
2. A four-power agreement among Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia mutually guaranteeing freedom of passage.
3. Effective guarantees from the Great Powers, especially the United States, that a blockade will not be tolerated.
Commenting on the General Assembly resolution ordering Israel out of all Egyptian territory at once, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that morally there cannot be one law for Egypt and another for Israel, that the UN could not demand Israel compliance with UN resolutions while permitting Egypt to disregard them.
Renewal of Egyptian blockade and fedayeen attacks, the spokesman said, are “matter affecting the very life of Israel.” His remarks were viewed here as further indication of Israel’s refusal to withdraw from Gaza and the Tiran area without adequate guarantees.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
