The Cabinet today flatly rejected Egypt’s proposals for the West Bank and Gaza Strip but authorized Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan to go to London July 18-19 for talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kaamel and U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. The London talks were arranged by the U.S. as a means of resuming Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations that were broken off last January.
The Cabinet communique released after today’s session said: “The Egyptian government proposals transmitted to Israel on July 3, 1978 entitled ‘Proposals Relative to Withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza and Security Arrangements’ are unacceptable to Israel and cannot, by their essence, lead to the achievement of peace in the Middle East and the signing of a peace agreement with Israel.”
The communique added that the Cabinet agreed to accept Vance’s invitiation to send the Foreign Minister to London. It said, “at the London conference, Mr. Dayan will present the Israeli peace plan with the aim of renewing the work of the Israeli-Egyptian political committee and advancing the peace-making process which is aimed at achieving a peace treaty.”
Speaking to reporters, Premier Menachem Begin stressed that Israel was sending its Foreign Minister to London as a continuing step on the road to peace with the eventual aim of signing a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
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