At the World Jewish Congress: Rabin, Arens Disagree on How Israel Should Proceed in the Peace Proces

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his predecessor in that office, Minister-Without-Portfolio Moshe Arens, disagreed on how Israel should proceed in the peace process and about its negotiating position. The two Ministers, both former Ambassadors to the United States, expressed their views, demonstrating the differences between Labor and Likud in the coalition government, before the 50th plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress at the Jerusalem Hilton Hotel yesterday.

Rabin said that Israel should no longer “wait for the telephone call from the other side” but do what it can to “facilitate” bringing King Hussein of Jordan to the negotiating table. But Arens said Hussein had had an invitation since 1967 and even before. He is the “one man” who can decide whether there are to be direct negotiations between Jordan and Israel.

Arens suggested that Hussein is more concerned about losing his throne rather than any benefits he can receive from negotiations with Israel. Rabin stressed that if Jordan allows either Syria or the Palestine Liberation Organization to have a “veto” on negotiations with Israel, “there will be no beginnings of negotiations.”

Rabin said the Jordanian delegation should include Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, but no declared PLO members. He said without Palestinians participating, any agreement will be somewhat “invalid.”

Both officials agreed that there must be direct bilateral negotiations, although Rabin said he would accept the “umbrella” of an international forum if this was not used for negotiations.

RABIN REJECTS A ROLE FOR THE USSR

Rabin also rejected the call by WJC president Edgar Bronfman Tuesday night that the Soviet Union be included in the peace process. He said if the USSR had been involved during the last 12 years there would have been no Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. He said Egyptian President Anwar Sadat went to Jerusalem because President Carter wanted to bring the Soviets into Mid-east talks.

Arens and Rabin disagreed most on Israel’s negotiating position. Rabin said it was much more important to have a Jewish State than to “have the borders we are justified in demanding.” He declared that “I prefer the Jewishness of the State rather than the Jewishness of the border.”

But Arens said Israel must maintain Judaea, Samaria and Gaza for security reasons. He noted that during the Yom Kippur War these territories gave Israel the depth it needed for protection while the reserves were being mobilized. He said the demographic problem could be solved by increased aliya.