The Cabinet decided today to stand by Israel’s 26-point autonomy “model” for the West Bank and Gaza Strip despite its absolute rejection by Egypt and hints from the United States that it expects Israel to take new initiatives toward resolving the Palestinian issue, especially in light of the crises in Iran and Afghanistan.
Public statements by several Cabinet ministers over the weekend reflected growing concern here that the U.S. is about to apply strong pressure on Israel over autonomy in order to line up the moderate Arab states in support of American positions in Iran and Afghanistan.
Deputy Premier Yigael Yodin warned the U.S. that if it tries to apply pressure on Israel it will have precisely the opposite result. According to Yodin, the U.S. is only encouraging Arab extortion because the Arabs must realize that their own safety depends on cooperation with the U.S.
SAYS U.S. SEEKING ARAB SUPPORT
Interior Minister. Yosef Burg, who heads the ministerial negotiating team in the autonomy talks, told an audience of American Jewish journalists Friday that he understood the American desire to win Arab support in light of the dangerous developments in the Middle East.
“But we shall not agree to it, we shall not pay the price,” he said in on address to the American Jewish Press Association meeting here. “It is not Israel that created the recent crisis in the region, neither in Iran nor in Afghanistan,” Burg said. He added, “There is a bad smell in the air, emitted by the recent statements of Secretary (of State Cyrus) Vance and other American statesmen.”
On the other hand, Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir who just returned from a visit to the U.S. where he conferred with Vance and other Administration officials, reiterated statements he made in Washington and in New York that it would be premature to accuse the U.S. of applying pressure on Israel in the autonomy talks. He acknowledged however, that the Americans would like to see the negotiations speeded up so that an agreement can be reached by the target date next May.
While Tamir, a member of the autonomy negotiating team, rejected reports of American pressure, another member, Minister-Without-Portfolio Moshe Nissim charged that American pressure was giving one-sided support to the Egyptian position and warned that this could lead to the autonomy talks not ending by the May 26 deadline or, still worse, failing altogether. “The U.S. must realize where our red line is,” he said.
EGYPT’S TOUGH LINE RAPPED
Nissim also denounced Egypt for the tough manner in which it rejected Israel’s proposals. He said this was not becoming to a country that is about to enter into normal relations with Israel. According to Nissim, the Egyptians were trying to hide from world opinion the many powers Israel has offered the residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He said Cairo could not possibly interpret the Camp David agreement as demanding legislative and judiciary powers for the autonomous council. “You may as well call it a Palestinian state and be done with it,” he said.
AUTONOMY “MODEL” OUTLINED
The Israeli autonomy “model” was outlined in detail over the weekend. It grants the autonomous authority wide-ranging control of local administration and public services. Israel, however, would retain exclusive control of foreign affairs and defense, internal security, Israeli inhabitants and settlements in the territories, state lands, natural resources, energy, printing of tamps and currency, international communications, telex and international mail, and supervision of Israeli banking and insurance institutions in the territories.
Under the Israeli plan, the self-governing authority, also referred to as the Administrative Council or Autonomy Council, would be composed of 11 members, one of them serving as chairman, and 10 heads of divisions. The chairman would have a number of assistants including a statistician, a civil service commissioner, a liaison officer with the Israeli authorities, an ombudsman, a legal advisor and a comptroller.
AREAS OF COUNCIL’S FUNCTION
Agriculture: To deal with all branches of agriculture and fisheries. Marketing of citrus agriculture and fisheries. Marketing of citrus products would be handled in cooperation with the Israeli Citrus Marketing Board.
* Health: To deal with all hospitals, clinics and other health and hygiene services.
* Religion: To provide services for all religions.
* Labor and Welfare: To operate labor exchanges, employment services, arbitrate labor issues, rehabilitate refugees and administer welfare.
* Industry and Commerce: To administer workshops, trade, industry and commerce.
* Finance: To deal with the Autonomous Council’s budget and that of its various divisions and with issues of taxation.
* Transport: To coordinate transportation, communications, meteorology, shipping, parts and postal services with the exception of printing stamps.
* Education: To control and operate the local school system from kindergarten to institutions of higher Learning, arts and sports. Israel would retain control of textbooks.
* Local Affairs: To administer all matters relating to local councils and municipalities, housing, construction, tourism; control of the local police forces and prisons for criminal offenders sentenced locally.
* Justice: To supervise local courts, handle prosecution matters and deal with all aspects of licensing, registration of associations, patents, companies and partners.
AREAS OF SHARED AUTHORITY
Israel and the Autonomous Council would share authority in the following areas: Water distribution,
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.
