Foreign Minister Yigal Allon told the Cabinet today that “Israel does not need to attend” the Security Council’s debate on “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” which is expected to take place later this month. His remarks indicated that Israel does not intend to participate in the deliberations of the “Committee of Twenty” which it does not recognize and with which it refuses to cooperate. But he appeared to leave the door open for a change of mind should Israel decide to put in an appearance.
The “Committee of Twenty” which includes 16 nations that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, presented a report last week calling for Israel’s total withdrawal from the administered Arab territories by mid-1977, the eventual repatriation of Palestine refugees to Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian “entity.”
The committee, whose official name is the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was created by the General Assembly last year. The United States and most West European countries refused to have anything to do with it. (By David Landau)
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