U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Alfred Atherton has postponed his visit to Israel for a week, officials announced yesterday. Atherton was due here Monday night on the first log of a Middle East junket that includes visits to Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. His departure for the region from London was delayed by for Monday night and he subsequently revised his itinerary making Jerusalem his last instead of his first stop. The change was called purely technical.
Israeli circles described Atherton’s trip as a “pulse feeling” exercise in advance of the Security Council’s Middle East debate scheduled to open Jan. 12. They said Washington wants an up-to-date reading of the mood in the various Mideast capitals before the debate begins and that Atherton was expected to urge the Arabs–particularly Syria–to moderate their demands at the Council debate and to shift the peace-making effort back to the Geneva conference or some other forum at which the parties will be represented.
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