A statement by Histadrut Secretary General Yitzhak Ben Aharon, widely interpreted as advocating unilateral Israeli withdrawal from certain of the administered territories prior to a formal peace settlement, has come under bitter attack from fellow Labor Party leaders and others. Ben Aharon, a leading Israeli dove, said last night that his remarks at a meeting of the Lab or Party secretariats here Thursday night were misunderstood and misinterpreted.
A stenographic transcript of his remarks showed that Ben Aharon did not advocate a policy which is diametrically opposed to the current Israeli government line but warned that some day Israel might find that policy wanting.
At Thursday night’s discussion, the Histadrut head specifically criticized the large-scale employment in Israel of Arab labor from the Gaza Strip. He was quoted as saying that “We cannot build Zionism with Arab labor” and that current policies were undermining “our moral basis by being rulers over other people.” He was immediately challenged by several of his colleagues at the meeting.
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan defended Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip which, he contended, rescued it from dire poverty and chaos. He said the employment of Arabs in Israel and the territories helped greatly to raise their living standards. Dayan declared that if the Gaza Strip were to be abandoned its residents would be left “to the mercies of the wicked gangs of murderers” and that the Egyptian Army would return and incite the gangs to start attacking villages in the Strip.
‘NO RETREAT WITHOUT PEACE’ IS HOLY WRIT
Ben Aharon said last night that he did not make “a proposal of withdrawal prior to peace” but “a suggestion that Israel, which depends on its strength, can unilaterally decide her borders if it became clear that there was no one with whom to talk and make peace.” He said he was offering no alternative to the present government policy of no withdrawal prior to peace. However, Ben Aharon remarked, the slogan “no retreat without peace” has taken on the character of holy writ.
At Thursday night’s meeting Israel Galili, a Minister-Without-Portfolio who is a member of the Labor Party’s inner circle, assailed Ben Aharon’s views as an incentive to an aggressor to restart a war. Some Labor Party circles expressed fear that Ben Aharon’s statement would undermine Premier Golda Meir at her meeting with President Nixon in Washington March 1.
Israeli police are investigating a threatening letter received by Rabbi Meir Kahane, Jewish Defense League leader, which was signed by the “Arab Defense League” warning the JDL head that it would retaliate “by fire and blood” if the JDL continues its program to got Arabs to emigrate from Israel. A similar letter was received by Emanuel Naji Houri, an Israeli Arab allegedly collaborating with Rabbi Kahane. Both letters were written in red ink and threatened to murder the recipients “within one month.” They were turned over to the police.
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