Former Foreign Minister Abba Eban claimed here Friday that “the deadlock in the Mideast persists not because of an Israeli refusal to evacuate territory but because of the Arab refusal to make peace.” Addressing some 100 labor leaders at a luncheon of the American Trade Union Council for Histadrut here, Eban reiterated his call for an early return to the Geneva peace conference. He said that 1975 should be a “year of profound exploration of the total issue of peace.”
Eban, who was introduced by Matthew Schoenwald, chairman of the Council and the new chairman of the Beit Berl Institute, the center for political and social research of the Israeli Labor Party, stated that Arab moderation cannot be encouraged “unless there is more resistance to Arab extremists” on the part of the international community. “The international indulgence given to the terrorists, hijackers, and boycott organizations has made it impossible for Arab moderation to break through,” Eban said.
Turning to the labor leaders present at the luncheon, Eban declared: “If all progressive opinions in the world had shown the same spirit as the American Labor movement, we would be nearer peace than we are.”
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