Eban Says Diplomatic Situation Remains Same As when General Assembly Opened

Foreign Minister Abba Eban, who came home for consultations Thursday, said on a television interview that he brought no new peace proposals to the Government and that the diplomatic situation remained essentially as it was before the opening of the 23rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said however that several dangers to which the Israeli public had been alerted were averted, among them the suspicion that relations with the United States might deteriorate. Mr. Eban said that negotiations for the sale of 50 supersonic Phantom jets to Israel began last week when he met with President Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. The procedure of negotiations was agreed upon at those meetings and the talks will continue when Israel’s envoy to Washington, Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin, returns there in a few days.

Mr. Eban said in a statement issued on his arrival that the General Assembly had not engaged in an intensive debate on the Middle East as had been feared, that the Israeli will for peace was not ignored and that the nine-point peace plan he outlined on Oct. 8 has given new impetus toward a settlement. Speaking on television, Mr. Eban said he rejected the idea that Israel should commit itself in advance to implement the Security Council’s Nov. 22, 1967 resolution as demanded by Egypt and Jordan. Implementation can only follow negotiations and a mutual agreement with the Arabs, he said.

(The Cairo newspaper Al Ahram today published an interview with Premier Bajat Al Tal-houni of Jordan who said his country stood by the Khartoum formula of no negotiations and no peace with Israel. He denied that Jordan had submitted any proposals to United Nations peace emissary Gunnar V. Jarring because it did not want to engage in any form of negotiations with Israel even indirectly.)