Ranking Republican Opposes Mideast Peace Force That Would Include Soviet Troops

Sen. Gordon L. Allott, Republican of Colorado, declared his opposition today to a Middle East peace force that would include Soviet soldiers. “No sensible solution,” he advised his colleagues, “will attempt to legitimize the Russian presence, which he called “the major source of unresolvable tensions” in the area. Allott’s statement was considered significant in that he is the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the Senate. He inserted into the Congressional Record what he called the “majestic address” by Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban at a New York dinner of the Jewish United Fund-Israel Emergency Appeal on March 18. Eban said then that Israel could not passively agree to Egyptian settlement proposals, disregarding her security needs. That position, said Allott is necessary “to avoid sacrificing long-term interests for short-term image.” The Coloradan–whose state ranks 15th in Jewish percentage of population and whose home city of Lamar has fewer than 100 Jews–stated: “I am confident that the United States will do nothing to impede this prudent policy.” The composition of any Mideast security force must be agreed on “by the parties directly involved,” Allott emphasized, and there must be no “dictated boundary,” He added that “the ‘peace talk’ from Cairo is as yet unconvincing.”