The Cabinet met briefly this morning to hear Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s report on his visit to Washington. An official communique released later said that the “Ministers expressed their positive assessment of the results of the visit.” The communique referred to Rabin’s remarks in various media interviews prior to his return to Israel in which he gave his impressions of his talks with President Carter and others in Washington.
It is believed that the Premier repeated to the Cabinet essentially what he had told the interviewers. In reply to questions from the media he had stressed Carter’s press conference statements that coincided with Israel’s views–mainly the President’s conception of a final peace based on mutual recognition and open borders and his recognition that Israel needs “defense lines” beyond its legal boundaries.
Rabin conceded that he was not happy with Carter’s suggestion that Israel would have to return to its 1967 borders with only “minor adjustments” in order to achieve a full peace. The Premier is understood to have emphasized to the Cabinet that the U.S. is standing firm with Israel on the latter’s rejection of PLO participation in peace talks. He was reported to have told the Americans that Israel would refuse to deal with the PLO even if it changed its dogma as expressed in the “Palestine National Covenant” which calls for the dismemberment of Israel.
Two dovish ministers, Moshe Kol of the Independent Liberal Party and Victor Shemtov of Mapam, reportedly urged an Israeli initiative with respect to PLO participation in the peace process lest it be embarrassed by a sudden shift toward moderation by the PLO.
Kol and Shemtov believe that Israel should declare its readiness to negotiate with any Palestinian group that recognizes its sovereignty and desists from terrorist acts–including, by implication, the PLO if it abandons its “Covenant.” The issue seems academic, however. The Palestine National Council, currently meeting in Cairo, shows no signs of altering the “Covenant” in any substantive way.
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