Foreign Minister Abba Eban, speaking to foreign newsmen on the second anniversary of the Mideast cease-fire, said today that recent Israeli-United States contacts had shown no signs of any changes in US policy since the ouster last month of Soviet advisors from Egypt by President Sadat. He added that both the US and Israel had “expressed mutual satisfaction” over the ouster which he said had significantly weakened the Soviet strategic presence in the Middle East. He dismissed a question about the possibility of a change in US policy after the US presidential election with the comment that there was no reason why “something that is going well” would be changed “just because of a date on the calendar.”
Summing up Israel’s position on the second anniversary, he said Israel now had no reason “to doubt the prudence and efficacy” of its decision on Aug. 1, 1970 to respond positively to the US initiative which led to the cease-fire. He listed six items “on the credit side of the balance sheet.”
He described these as “lives saved” on both sides; development of a “dynamic of peace–or at least non-war,” set in motion; a stronger Israel; the decline of terrorist activities and increased Israeli cooperation with the West Bank Arabs; a rise in Israel’s Gross National Product and exports, and stimulation of Israel’s economy and society by increased aliya; and the removal “to a large proportion” of Soviet military establishment from Egypt, “one of the most dangerous sources of potential tension in the region.”
(A senior politician in Cairo, Saed Mari, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Arab Socialist Union, Egypt’s only political party, was quoted in London newspapers as saying that only a limited number of Soviet instructors would remain in Egypt and only for “a short period.” Sources in London said that Egyptians now were manning the 80 fixed SAM sites along the Suez Canal, around Cairo and at the Aswan Dam. Egyptian officials were reported to be expecting they would get spare parts from the USSR for installations in place, as well as ammunition for Soviet artillery but there were also reports that Egypt plans to do some canvassing among Western countries for major arms deliveries.)
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.
