Israel is applying its best brains to the task of preparing for the Middle East peace conference scheduled to open in Geneva Dec. 18. Several “think tanks” made up of top civilian and military persons are already in operation with the task of presenting to the government a cogent list of the options open to Israel on all of the Issues likely to arise at the conference. Their data will be the ba of Israel’s bargaining positions and final positions on each of the issues, to be worked out by the government. The “think tank” participants will not offer recommendations of their own, it was stressed here.
The target date for completion of their task is early Jan. 1974. Israel expects no substantive matters to be taken up at Geneva before then, inasmuch as all of the parties recognize tacitly that Israel cannot negotiate such matters until after its general elections Dec. 31. The conference opening is expected to be devoted to broad generalities, a possible discussion of procedural arrangements and, possibly, a discussion of the issue of disengagement of forces on the Suez Canal front which Israel and Egypt have failed to resolve in four weeks of meetings at the Kilometer 101 checkpoint.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban indicated over the weekend that he will head the Israeli delegation to Geneva. So far no official invitation has been received by Israel from the U.S. which, with the Soviet Union, is sponsoring the Geneva peace talks. Israeli officials believe the delay reflects continuing difficulties over the precise role to be played at Geneva by the United Nations and Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
Participants in the “think tanks” include senior officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office and top military intelligence officers. Their work is being coordinated by Mordechai Gazit, director general of the Prime Minister’s Office who is one of Premier Golda Meir’s closest aides. Another key figure is Prof. Yuval Neeman, president of Tel Aviv University, who has been enlisted as a special assistant to the chief of military intelligence. Prof. Neeman served with distinction in a military intelligence unit in the 1950s. The Israeli “think tanks”–like their American counterparts favored by Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger–also call in outside experts for specialized opinions on specific problems.
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.
