Former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan told Hebrew University students today that a failure to reach a new agreement with the Arabs did not mean a war would break out, although tension in the Mideast would grow. “We are closer now to a peace settlement with the Arabs than we have ever been in the past,” he said, adding that this did not mean a settlement was certain.
Dayan said that of all the Arabs the Palestinians living in the administered territories wanted war the least. “They know more than anyone else that if a new war breaks out they will suffer. Neither Nablus nor Hebron nor Gaza nor Khan Yunis want the war to be waged on their backs, because they know war would reach them before Tel Aviv or Amman,” Dayan said. He stated that unless Egypt agrees to an unlimited non-belligerency agreement in the form of a written document signed directly with Israel, there should be no Israeli withdrawal from the Mitle and Gidi-Passes or the Sinai oil fields.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
