Foreign Minister Yigal Allon expressed cautious optimism today on the prospects of an interim settlement with Egypt but made it clear that, contrary to the recent spate of news reports, an agreement still has not been achieved.
Selecting his words with obvious care, Allon told the Knesset that the current process of diplomatic “clarifications” had brought “progress” in the direction of “a triangular balance of commitments and undertakings” between Israel, the U.S. and Egypt. He said he was “happy” to report this, but he could not go into details.
Allon’s tone was somewhat more upbeat than that of Premier Yitzhak Rabin and of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s remarks before departing today for Europe where he will meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko in Geneva tomorrow and Friday and with Rabin in Bonn Saturday.
Allon clear did not intend to hint that a settlement was assured but sought to point out that some progress has been made and to express his earnest hope that a settlement would be achieved in the end and on the basis of mutual concessions and tripartite commitments Commenting on the current rash of press leaks, he said that most of them were ill-founded or inaccurate. He said Rabin was “dealing” with leaks and those responsible for the leaks.
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