Peace between Israel and the Arab States is likely to evolve “sometime during Israel’s second decade, perhaps during the half of that decade,” Abba Eban, chairman of Israel’s delegation to the United Nations, declared here today. Mr. Eban made that prediction in his valedictory appearance before the United Nations Correspondents Association which tendered him a farewell luncheon.
“On the question of peace with our neighbors,” he said, “I confess that I do not see an early break in the clouds. The spectacle of Israel’s permanence and stability is beginning to make an impression on Arab minds. International inhibitions rule out the reversal of our status by force. Non-recognition and ostracism have now been ruled out, rejected, by the fact that we have established a network of tangible relations with so many nations. I doubt whether the Arab nations can maintain their bulwark of non-recognition.”
Mr. Eban then made his prediction of a possible Israel-Arab peace in the next ten years, declaring that such a development would be “an organic process” and “not spectacular. ” However, he said, he believed “peace will assert itself. “
Asked about Israel’s stand toward the Soviet Union, Mr. Eban stressed that, in the early days of the establishment of Israel, Moscow maintained friendly relations, which he would like to see being maintained also at present, He emphasized that the term “coexistence” means cooperation, otherwise this much-preached term is meaningless. Mr. Eban added that Israel is anxious to cooperate with all big and small nations.
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.
