The United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission, which is trying to bring Israel and the Arab states together in the hope of inducing them to reach a permanent peace settlement, today found itself faced with three separate plans for peace in the Middle East.
After more than three weeks discussion at the Hotel Grillon here, during which the Commission presented its own comprehensive five-point plan, the Israeli and Arab delegations have brought forward their own preliminary proposals as well. There is no sign of reconciliation among the three plans.
At the moment, the argument seems to settle on the preamble to the U.N. plan. This section urges the Israel Government and the governments of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon to “settle all their differences at present and in the future solely by resort to pacific procedures,” It asks these governments to pledge themselves “to refrain from any use of force or acts of hostility.”
This morning the Arab nations presented in writing a counter-proposal to the preamble, shortly before their meeting with the Commission was scheduled to resume. Israel had earlier proposed the conclusion of a non-aggression pact among the nations concerned. The Arab proposal–the nature of which has been kept secret–took the Commission by surprise to the extent that the American chairman of the Commission, Ely Palmer, postponed today’s talk with the Arab representatives until tomorrow. The Commission wanted more time to study the new “points of view” presented by the Arabs.
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