Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon suggested today that the current wave of Arab terrorism will inevitably discourage the Israelis from making concessions that could lead to a Middle East peace. “The more the Arabs use this method,” Allon told a meeting of foreign journalists, “the more stubborn the Israelis will become, because they will say: How can you trust these people?”
“The Arabs must be made to see that they cannot have an official cease-fire and then rely on an unofficial terrorist war,” Allon told the Israeli Foreign Press Association. “Putting an end to Arab terrorism has become an Indispensable necessity to political progress,” Allon said. Arab terrorists, Allon said, have focussed their attacks primarily upon Israelis abroad in the past few months. He said this was bound to continue unless European governments take stiffer measures against this “disease.” He called upon European governments to create an “anti-terrorist front” to root out Arab terrorists within European lands.
The Deputy Prime Minister indirectly criticized some-segments of world Jewry who have spoken of mounting their own offensive against terrorists. “I don’t think this should become a Jewish problem. It is an Israeli problem and a problem for each of the countries where the Arab terrorists operate.” Allon emphasized. He dismissed reports that Israel was preparing to use its own agents to stage a counter-attack against terrorists on European soil. “We are not planning any illegal operation in anybody else’s country.” Allon said.
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