Israel’s Deputy Premier Yigal Allon conferred today with Secretary of State William P. Rogers at the State Department for 80 minutes. It was their first meeting in a year and the final US-Israel consultation before the Moscow summit visit of President Nixon. Allon was accompanied by Israel Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin and top officials of the Israel Embassy here. The meeting was also attended by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joseph J. Sisco, his aide, Deputy Assistant Secretary Alfred L. Atherton, and H.H. Stack-house, the State Department’s Israel Desk officer.
Neither Allon nor State Department sources would comment on the content of the discussions. It was understood, however, that the subjects discussed included the US-Soviet summit conference, the Israeli and Egyptian attitudes toward a peace settlement and the Allon plan for the West Bank.
Premier Golda Meir’s visit to Rumania this week was reportedly not brought up at the Rogers – Allon meeting nor, apparently, was the reported proposal by United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim for a conference of Israel and the Arab states which he is prepared to chair. The Waldheim plan was said not to have been received by Israel or the US.
It was understood that Allon left the meeting confident that the US will not surprise Israel with policy changes on the Middle East without prior consultation with Jerusalem. Nor was Allon said to expect any US policy changes in the foreseeable future. Allon reportedly told Rogers that Nixon’s earlier pledge that the US would not allow friendly nations to lose their sovereignty was warmly welcomed in Israel.
EGYPT WANTS IMPOSED SOLUTION
Allon was understood to have conveyed to the US officials his belief that Egypt wants the Middle East question to be given highest priority at the summit conference and that President Anwar Sadat went to Moscow last week expressly to influence Soviet leaders in that direction. Sadat wants more arms and wants to create a psychological situation of escalation that would give Moscow an excuse to make the Middle East a global issue and Justify Soviet intervention, according to the Israeli view.
The Israelis also reportedly indicated their belief that Egypt wants an imposed solution–preferably one imposed by the Big Powers–in order to avoid the necessity of negotiating with Israel. Israel, on the other hand, supports the American proposal for proximity talks with Egypt and supports a resumption of the Jarring mission under the mandate of the Security Council’s Resolution 242 but still opposes Jarring’s aide-memoire of Feb. 8, 1971 and the General Assembly’s endorsement of it.
Allon is understood to have referred to the plan for the West Bank’s future map which bears his name which calls for permanent Israeli strong-points along the West Bank of the Jordan River while heavily populated Arab areas in the hinterland would revert to Arab sovereignty within the framework of a peace treaty. Another subject understood to have come up in Allon’s talk with Rogers was King Hussein’s recent proposal for a Palestinian state on the West Bank federated with Jordan.
In contrast to his meeting with Rogers a year ago when TV cameras were set up in the diplomatic lobby and Allon was interviewed by scores of reporters, only Israeli correspondents and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency were on hand today. The poor media turnout was attributed to the fact that the meeting, originally scheduled for 3 p.m. was advanced to noon so that Rogers could attend a meeting with President Nixon at the White House at 1:30 p.m.
IN U.S. FOR 10 DAYS
The Israeli Deputy Premier and Minister of Education and Culture arrived in the US last night for a ten-day visit. Israeli officials said the principle purpose of Allon’s visit was to speak Friday before the National Academy of Education at Brookings Institution. The Institution will devote an all-day program to education in Israel. On Thursday, Allon is scheduled to lunch with Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Elliot L. Richardson. During his American visit he will also appear at a series of rallies on behalf of Israel Bonds.
In New York tomorrow morning Allon is scheduled to visit an experimental high school in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn as guest of Dr. Seymour Lachman, president of the Board of Education. In the afternoon, Allon will address leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Later in the day the Board of Jewish Education and the American Association for Jewish Education will tender a convocation and reception to Allon. He will be greeted by Consul General David Rivlin and Robert H. Arnow, president of the AAJE and president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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