Begin Reiterates Basic Positions

Premier Menachem Begin took the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of Israel’s independence to reiterate his positions on Jerusalem, the right of Jewish settlement on the West Bank and security, in a television address to the nation last night. He emphasized several times that he made those positions clear to President Carter in their two days of talks on the autonomy negotiations in Washington last week.

Begin said he told Carter there would be “no concessions” on the right to settle, that Jerusalem would never again be divided geographically, administratively or with respect to sovereignty and that Israel intends to retain exclusive control of internal security on the West Bank and Gaza even after autonomy is established in those territories. “Otherwise, innocent people would be killed by terrorists and so would the peace itself,” Begin said.

He said that friends of Israel in the U.S. had told him that the security motivations for settlements on the West Bank were better understood by Americans that the nationalist-historical motivations. However, Begin said, while he stressed the security argument in his statements in the U.S. Israelis have to realize that both aspects, security and heritage, are interwoven.

Begin was backed by Israel’s top military man, Chief of Staff Gen. Raphael Eytan, who claimed on another television interview last night that all settlements on the West Bank have security importance, direct or indirect. He defined indirect security as “the upbuilding of the Jewish yishuv infretz Israel.”

NOBLE QUALITIES IN ISRAEL

Begin referred only briefly to domestic issues in his Independence Day speech. He claimed that the March inflation figure of 5.1 percent was evidence of a downward trend and credited the Likud government with achieving it. He noted that when Finance Minister Yigal Hurwitz took office at the end of last year, the monthly inflation rate was nearly 10 percent.

President Yitzhak Navon stressed values and ethics in his Independence Day address. He said that while there were serious social and economic problems and it was unwise to hide or ignore them it was equally wrong to ignore or be unaware of the fine and noble qualities that permeated so many areas of life in Israel. “How, otherwise, can we hope to attract young Jews from the diaspora?” he asked.

Leon Dulzin, chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives, released on Independence Day message in which he said “Israel is the heart of the Jewish people and the heart is the universal symbol of love. Our love for Zion has sustained us as a people and give us the vision of redemption that we have begun to realize in our day. “He added: “May the coming year be one in which the centrality of Israel is further secured in our hearts and by our deeds for Israel and the Jewish people.”