Premier Yitzhak Rabin of Israel indicated here that his country is prepared to make territorial compromises for the sake of peace in the Middle East, but warned that compromise must be reciprocal and observed that negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors will not have any meaning unless and until they are conducted on a bilateral basis. “A piece of peace for a piece of territory would be a handy formula.” he told a bi-partisan group of British Members of Parliament at a meeting in his hotel suite yesterday. Peace will not come, he said, until the Arabs are reconciled to Israel’s existence.
Premier Rabin arrived here to attend a meeting of international Socialist party leaders opening today at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country residence. The meeting is being attended by ten prime ministers and one president. The Israeli Premier, who landed at Heath-row Airport where heavy security measures were in force, met last night with Prime Minister Harold Wilson at No. 10 Downing St. The meeting was viewed as a “considerable gesture” toward Rabin by observers here. An announcement issued later said only that the two leaders had discussed a wide variety of subjects.
Rabin told the MPs that while a final peace settlement is still far off, Israel is ready to negotiate the next step “so that we may come a little closer to peace.” Rabin said Israel will be watching to see whether Egypt opens the Suez Canal to Israeli ships and whether Syria and Egypt begin working on “reconstruction” rather than preparing for another war. Rabin said the next step would be between Israel and Egypt since Egypt is the key to peace in the Middle East, but any Israeli concessions must be reciprocated.
The Premier said the reason for the increase in terrorist activities since the disengagement agreements have been signed is that “someone is interested to put pressure on us. I would not exclude the Soviet Union.” But he stressed that the terrorists cannot endanger Israel Noting that the Palestinian problem must be solved, Rabin stressed that it cannot be at the expense of Israel. He said the Palestinians must decide who speaks for them, what are their relations with other Arab countries and what they want to do with the refugees. “If they insist on a solution at our expense, we shall not be able to oblige.” Rabin declared. “Suicide is not an international obligation.”
Rabin stressed that Jerusalem will continue to be Israel’s capital even although an arrangement for holy places will not be excluded. He said Europe is moving toward a more evenhanded policy in the Mideast.
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.
