Israel would be willing to give most of the West Bank back to Jordan provided it was not turned into a separate Palestinian state, Commerce and Industry Minister Haim Barlev declared today, Speaking to reporters accompanying U.S. Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, Barlev said as long as the area captured in the 1967 war remained part of Jordan, “we are willing to give back most of the territory of the West Bank.”
But Barlev, a former Chief of Staff, said if israel returns territory it must have secure borders. “We are willing to compromise on the areas, but this does not mean we are willing to hand ourselves and our future security totally over to Arab goodwill and international guarantees.”
Barlev criticized the American plan to provide Egypt with nuclear reactors and fuel saying that “in one leap it would bring the technology of Egypt to a level where it could easily move into more dangerous areas.” He said if Egypt became a nuclear power it could be a “very high risk not only to Israel but to the rest of the world.” But Barlev said prospects for a peaceful solution in the Mideast were favorable because Egypt has decided to give first priority to economic development.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
