Defense Minister Moshe Dayan warned the Labor Party last night not to adopt a strong platform and then select as a new Prime Minister someone who was not disposed to implement it. He said the party should choose its Premier first and then hammer out a platform to present to the electorate. But he said he didn’t think he would be his party’s choice for the post.
Dayan expressed his views on the Premiership, on the future of the administered territories and other matters at a meeting of the moshavim (small land holders) movement. He urged the Labor Party to decide as speedily as possible who the next Premier would be. He did not mention the possibility of Premier Golda Meir remaining in office after next fall’s elections although many Party leaders have been urging her to do so.
Asked if he would serve in a Cabinet under Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir, a self-declared “dove” who is reputedly Mrs. Meir’s personal choice for a successor, Dayan replied, “I have not yet heard that Sapir is ready to become Prime Minister.”
FAVORS JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN TERRITORIES
Dayan came out strongly in favor of large scale Jewish settlement in the administered territories and indicated that wherever Jews settled would remain part of Israel. “We have a right to regard Samaria and Judaea as part of Eretz Israel,” he said. He added, “I do not think we shall advise Jews who settled in the territories to live under an Arab ruler.”
Dayan’s remarks about fitting the personality of the next Premier to the imperatives of the Party’s platform was an apparent swipe at his chief rival for the. Premiership, Deputy Premier Yigal Allon. He said the Party cannot adopt strong-policies such as the settlement of the administered territories and then choose a Prime Minister who regards such a policy as calamitous. The so-called Allon plan for a future settlement favors Arab sovereignty in the populated areas of the West Bank with a permanent Israeli military presence along the banks of the Jordan River.
The Defense Minister said he favored the continued employment of Arab labor from the territories in Israel, a condition Sapir has warned against. According to Dayan, a state of partnership now exists between Israel and the territories. The Defense Minister said Israel would continue to enjoy military superiority over its-Arab neighbors through the rest of this decade provided there is no radical change in Jerusalem’s relations with the United States. This means that if the Arabs decide to start a new war they will be defeated, he said.
Dayan said he did not see any prospects for a general peace settlement at this time because the Arabs haven’t budged from their insistence on total or almost total Israeli withdrawal from the administered territories. He said a partial settlement might bring a cessation of hostilities but not peace. He said he was opposed to a partial accord because an agreement without diplomatic and political relations is unacceptable. He said he would prefer the existing situation to that.
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