Premier Golda Meir warned last night against excessive dependence on Arab labor from the occupied territories. “We must not let others dirty their hands for us,” she said in an address to the Israeli Executive Center here. Mrs. Meir said she did not know when peace would come but added, “I believe that a Jewish State must have a large and overriding Jewish majority.” She admitted that the problem of absorbing immigrants was a very difficult one but observed that “even if we have an aliya of 150,000 a year we shall absorb them.” The present rate of influx is between 40-50,000 a year.
PREDICT ARAB POLITICAL OFFENSIVE
Israel Galili, a Labor Minister-Without-Port-folio, said at a press conference yesterday that the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories was justified for security reasons and because of “our natural affinity for the country.”
He predicted a major political offensive by the Arabs after next month’s elections in the US to try to pressure Israel into withdrawing to the pre-1967 lines “as a stage in their efforts to annihilate Israel.” He said Israel was ready to negotiate but “the final map will have to be essentially different from the pre-war situation.”
Galili stressed the overriding need to combat terrorists. He said the latest Israeli raids in Lebanon were aimed at forcing the Beirut regime to decide whether it wants to continue to coexist with Israel. Asked about reported American concern over Israeli air raids on Lebanon, Galili replied that while Israel cherishes American support and understanding it did not act according to the wishes of the US or any government and did not ask any government to identify itself with Israel’s battles.
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.
