Brezhnev Claims Mideast Peace Thwarted by Israel’s ‘expansionist Plans’

Leonid Brezhnev. General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, claimed yesterday that peace could have been restored in the Middle East if it were not for Israel’s “expansionist plans.” He chided the United States and “other patrons of Israel” for the low state of their prestige in the Arab world compared to “the Arab peoples friendship with the Soviet Union.” He promised that the Socialist countries would give the Arab peoples “all the necessary assistance to frustrate the plans of the aggressors in the Middle East.” Mr. Brezhnev spoke at a meeting in Kharkov in connection with the presentation of the Order of Lenin to the Kharkov region. His remarks, which dealt with many international issues besides the Mideast, were circulated here today by the Soviet Mission to the UN.

“Peace in that(Mideast) region would long have been restored were it only a question of safeguarding the right to security of each state in the Middle East,” he said. “The present leaders of Israel, with their exorbitant ambitions and expansionist plans, however, need tension just as it is needed by their trans-Atlantic patrons.” Mr. Brezhnev said, “There is only one way to the peaceful solution in the Middle East–withdrawal of the aggressor’s troops from the territories it occupies. It is necessary to make Israel respect decisions of such a lofty international body as the United Nations Security Council. The sooner the leaders of the United States realize how pointless and dangerous is their connivance with the Israeli aggressor, the sooner this can be achieved.”