Rogers Will Receive Presidents Conference Delegation to Discuss Mideast Policy

Secretary Rogers has agreed to receive a delegation of American Jewish leaders tomorrow to discuss the implications of his Dec. 9 speech on the Mideast. State Department officials said the Secretary may use the opportunity to explain U.S. policy to the delegation and ask their cooperation in seeking wider acceptance of efforts to attain greater flexibility by Israel. The delegation will represent the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Bernard B. Direnfeld, national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, said that he had asked Secretary Rogers to clarify whether his recent statement on Mideast policy represents a departure from the policy espoused by President Nixon. Mr. Direnfeld said the Secretary’s statement “appears to favor a concession by Israel for unilateral withdrawal without similar prior agreement by the Arabs to sign a real peace treaty. It is an apparent departure from the previous position of the U.S. and a seeming concession to the Arabs and the Soviet Union.”