Foreign Minister Abba Eban, commenting on Prime Minister Kosygin’s press interview, said: “There was nothing new in these statements. They repeated allegations which I have already answered in my address to the General Assembly on June 19.
“Chairman Kosygin bases his proposals on the false allegation of Israel’s ‘aggression.’ He failed to win support for this charge in the Security Council. The charge of Israeli aggression is in total contradiction to truth and reality, and is rejected by progressive and peace-loving circles throughout the world, which uphold Israel’s struggle for security, peace and right of self-defense.
“Chairman Kosygin’s only proposal was for a return in effect to the situation of belligerency maintained up to June 4 by the Arab states. This situation led to the recent hostilities. It is not Israel’s insistence on the recognition of her sovereignty, the respect of her security and the conclusions of peace which would create conditions for new hostilities in the Middle East.
“On the contrary, insistence on the withdrawal without assuring peace would create such conditions. This has been specifically recognized not only by Israel but by other governments whose leaders have made statements inside and outside the United Nations this week. The Soviet proposal is a prescription for new hostilities.
“Chairman Kosygin, despite the opportunity offered to him by questioners, failed to say a single word in favor of peace between the Arab states and Israel, or in favor of the abandonment of belligerent practices in the Middle East.”
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