Ambassador Abba Eban of Israel has received a copy of the Jordan communication to United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in response to his request that the Jordan Government attend a meeting called by Israel under the terms of the armistice agreement, an Israel delegation spokesman announced here today.
The spokesman also revealed that Mr. Eban is scheduled to confer with Mr. Hammarskjold Thursday, after he has consulted with the Israel Government. The spokesman would make no comment on the details of the Jordan reply.
In UN circles it is known that Jordan rejected the call to the direct meeting demanded by Israel under Article Twelve of the armistice pact. This is the second time Jordan replied in the negative, despite the position taken by Israel and the Secretary General that a call for such a meeting by one party makes attendance obligatory upon both parties.
Article Twelve provides for discussion of changes of the armistice agreement itself. The Jordanians insist that any dispute can be settled through the Mixed Armistice Commission’s.
MIXED ARMISTICE COMMISSION CANNOT HANDLE SITUATION
In a resume of the Israeli view of the legal position the Israeli spokesman today pointed out that the Mixed Armistice Commission “is not empowered to embark upon the general review of the agreement at a political level” as requested by Israel.
“The Secretary General has set in motion the procedures envisioned in Article Twelve. Israel has welcomed his initiative and his intention to give the conference the full measure of his assistance,” the spokesman said. “Israel has also informed Mr. Hammarskjold that it would cooperate with his own views on the time and place of the conference and would keep the discussion within the framework of the Armistice Agreement.
The issue is now whether the Jordan Government will honor its signature of Article Twelve and respect the functions of the Secretary General as laid down in the Agreement,” he stressed. “The legal integrity of the Agreement, once its provisions are duly invoked, is a consideration hardly less important than the improvement of the frontier situation which was Israel’s primary aim in proposing the conference. A grave situation for this and other agreements would be reached if either party were to invoke the Agreement in due form without the other party responding in precise accordance with its own signature. Accordingly, the Israel Government continues to support the Secretary General’s efforts to convoke the conference under Article Twelve.”
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