Menachem Beigin. a leader of the Likud, charged today that the disturbances in the West Bank are not spontaneous and that “the so-called PLO is behind them.” But the Israeli opposition leader declared that although the incidents are “sad and regrettable” they are only passing phases.
Addressing a luncheon at the American Jewish Committee headquarters. Beigin stated that Israel does not want to cause any loss of life in the West Bank. He added that the use of arms by the Israeli soldiers “is in self-defense.”
Beigin said that there is “a community of interest between Israel and all free nations to prevent the establishment of a Soviet base in an ‘Arafatan state’ in the heart of the Middle East.” Beigin warned that an “Arafatan state” in the West Bank will turn immediately to a Soviet military base which will be “the most dangerous Soviet base in the world” in view of the strategic importance of the Mideast.
Declaring that Judaea and Samaria “must never be returned to a foreign rule.” Beigin said that Jewish settlements there should be established because “it is our land by right” and has a significant importance to the security and survival of the Jewish State. (By Yitzhak Rabi)
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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.
