A plan for settling Jews on the Israel-held side of the Jordan Valley, attributed to Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon, will be brought up in the Cabinet for discussion shortly, the newspaper Maariv reported today. Mr. Allon believes that his plan would not foreclose any future political solution whatever its nature and does not conflict, according to the paper, with the views of Pinhas Sapir, secretary-general of the Israel Labor Party and a minister-without-portfolio. Mr. Sapir is opposed to the economic integration of Hebron area of the West Bank with Israel. Defense Minister Gen. Moshe Dayan favors economic integration.
The Allon plan envisages Jewish settlements in an area along the west bank of the Jordan River which contains an estimated 5,000 Arabs and is largely uninhabited. Various versions of the plan published in recent months say it calls for an Israeli security belt along the river frontier with Jordan and an Arab enclave in the hilly interior to be linked with Jordan by land corridors. The plan is also said to offer Jordan access to an Israeli Mediterranean port.
Maariv said the Cabinet has not committed itself to any plan envisaging the long-term occupation of the West Bank nor has it ever held a formal discussion of any such plan. The paper believes it is not likely that the Cabinet will reach any conclusions before Prime Minister Levi Eshkol returns from a United States visit next month.
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