Politicians, Military Leaders Sum Up Israel’s Position As Anniversary Approaches

Israeli politicians, summing up the diplomatic situation as Israel’s 21st anniversary on Wednesday approaches, agree that there can be no changes in the cease-fire lines until a firm peace agreement is negotiated with the Arabs. Their statements indicate that differences persist within the Government of the future status of the occupied territories. Military leaders are emphasizing Israel’s strength.

Premier Golda Meir and Foreign Minister Abba Eban took sharp issue with those of their colleagues–Defense Minister Moshe Dayan–who want to link the occupied territories more closely to Israel economically and legally. Mrs. Meir told reporters Friday that she had reservations about the economic integration of the West Bank with Israel, as proposed by Gen. Dayan. She said the present movement of West Bank Arab laborers into Israel would decline once Israeli planners established full employment on the West Bank. She said Israel did not want to face a situation where white collar workers and foremen were Jews and the menial laborers were Arabs. She also rejected proposals for a separate Palestinian state on the West Bank. Such a state, she claimed, could not exist unless it was closely tied to either Israel or Jordan and she opposed such links, especially with Israel. Mr. Eban criticized Gen. Dayan’s plan to impose Israeli legislation on the occupied territories. He said such a step would make it appear to the world that Israel is not serious in its proclaimed desire for peace.

Mr. Eban also criticized groups like the “Greater Israel” movement whose adherents say that Israel must not return an inch of captured territory. He said such views could do great harm to Israel and that even those who profess them realize that there can be no peace unless both sides agree to some concessions.

Gen. Dayan, a political figure and a highly regarded military leader, ridiculed Egyptian claims of heavy casualties inflicted on Israeli forces along the Suez Canal. Gen. Dayan spoke at a pre-Independence Day rally last week. But he disclosed Israel’s official casualty figures–dead and wounded–during and since the 1967 war which, if not corresponding to the inflated Arab figures, were still high in proportion to Israel’s population. He said that Israel suffered 3,600 casualties in the Six-Day War and 1,600 dead and wounded in the nearly two years of border fighting since then. He said the border fighting was politically motivated by the Arabs, militarily indecisive, and will continue.

Gen. Dayan said that Israel has lost seven jets and one Piper Cub since the war, and that Egypt has lost 15 jets and Syria three. The commander of Israel’s Air Force, Gen. Mordechai Hod, said Friday that Egypt and Syria now have far more first line combat planes than they had on the eve of the war. But, he said, “it is still the man behind the gun and the pilot in the cockpit who counts” and here Israel continues to maintain its superiority.

Gen. Aharon Adnan, commander of Israel’s Armored Corps, said at a rally in Ramle today that Egypt and Syria now have far more first line combat planes than they had on the eve of the war three quarters of the Egyptian Army is concentrated along the west bank of the Suez Canal with a 10 to one ratio of artillery in their favor. Nevertheless, he said, the Egyptians suffered greater casualties and damage in the recent fighting. He observed that Egyptian refineries and oil ports were wrecked and front line bunkers destroyed. Gen. Aharon Yariv, chief of intelligence. General Headquarters branch, said that while the Arabs have strengthened their armies, they are still unprepared for war, Chief of Staff Gen. Haim Bar-Lev said that Israel can produce the same number of pilots and tank troops as an Arab country and that Israel will maintain its military technical and scientific superiority for years to come.

Moshe Kol, Israel’s Minister of Tourism and Development declared that Israel’s Army has become the custodian of free navigation through the Strait of Tiran and the of Aqaba on behalf of the United Nations which proved unable to keep the waterway open.