French political circles are making much of a statement attributed to Israel’s Foreign Minister Abba Eban that “the Palestinian Arab nation exists and it matters little what the state is called–Palestine or Jordan.” Those remarks were contained in an interview with Mr. Eban published today in the newspaper Figaro. If correct, they appear to place Mr. Eban’s position close to that of Aryeh Eliav, the newly elected secretary general of the Israel Labor Party who has described himself as a “super dove.”
Mr. Eliav is under fire in Jerusalem for stating, in an interview published in Time magazine this week, that a “Palestinian state” exists in embryo and Israel will have to recognize it. Mr. Eliav has been assailed by some of his party colleagues for expressing views contrary to official Government policy. Premier Golda Meir is on record as denying the existence of a “Palestinian nation” or “Palestinian people.” According to the Figaro interview, Mr. Eban said, “Once the peaceful borders of Israel are determined, the destiny of the Arab nation should be determined by the Arabs, not by Israel.” Mr. Eban also declared that France can no longer play the role of a peace-maker in the Middle East because of its arms sales to the Arabs and its position identical to that of the Soviet Union.
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