Egypt Reported Mulling Freeing Ships Moored in Suez Canal; Jarring in Cairo

The release of 15 merchant ships of various nationalities which have been idly riding at anchor in the Great Bitter Lake section of the Suez Canal, since the canal was shut down by Egypt during the Six-Day War last June, appears likely soon, according to reports received here from various quarters today.

Informed sources said that the United Nations special peace envoy to the Middle East, Ambassador Gunnar Jarring, has approached both Egyptian and Israeli authorities with a request to permit the ships to leave. Ambassador Jarring arrived in Jerusalem yesterday for a second round of talks with Israel Foreign Minister Abba Eban, and was due in Cairo today for further talks with Egyptian leaders.

Egypt has insisted up to now that no part of the Suez Canal could be cleared until Israeli troops withdraw from its East bank and from all other territories occupied in the war. Today, however, the sent-official Cairo newspaper. Al Ahram said that the Egyptian Government is “carefully studying” the notice. and that there was a distinct possibility that the ships would be released.

In Jerusalem, today, Foreign Ministry sources said that no request had been received from Egypt about the trapped ships. Under the terms of last June’s cease-fire agreement, neither Israel nor Egypt was to navigate the Canal. But it was indicated in Jerusalem that Israel would raise no objections to the extrication of the vessels provided that the Egyptian tugs and personnel employed confine themselves to that operation which must not be construed as a precedent affecting the status of the Canal.)

(A report in Washington today quoted an official Egyptian spokesman, Dr. Mohammed Hassan El Zayyat, as saying in Cairo that the 15 stranded ships may soon be released but that the Canal will remain closed until Israel evacuates all of her troops from Sinai.)

According to the dispatch from Cairo, Egypt has undertaken an extensive study of the problem, at the repeated request of the countries whose ships are involved, and has determined that clearance of the southern end of the waterway was “feasible.” Stranded in the Great Bitter Lake for nearly six months are two American freighters, the African Glen and the Observer, four British ships and vessels flying the French, Swedish, Polish, Czechoslovakian and Bulgarian flags.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, New York Democrat, today urged that the United States provide F-4 Phantom jets to Israel. In a statement issued from his Washington office, a point was made that maintenance of Israeli strength may help avert further warfare in the Middle East.

Sen. Kennedy said it would be preferable if the USSR and the United States could reach an agreement — but, if no accord was possible and the Arabs continued to re-arm, the United States must act so that Israel can defend herself. He said Israel stands “only by the power of her arms and courage and the determination of her people.” He stressed that the Arabs refuse to negotiate, and continue to mount a massive arms build-up, adding that peace could come only through direct negotiations.

A proposal to set up a special movement within the World Zionist Organization, limited to those Jews from abroad who personally pledge to settle in Israel, was made by Rabbi Mordechai Kirshblum, of New York, member of the Jewish Agency executive, at the opening of the Jewish Agency executive’s plenary sessions here today. But the plan quickly ran into opposition from Israeli members of the executive, indicating a sharp difference of opinion between the New York and Jerusalem sections on how best to foster aliyah (immigration) which all agree will be a fundamental issue on the agenda of the next World Zionist Congress opening here in June.

The plenary sessions, convened to work out an agenda for the next Congress, was opened by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, who outlined his proposal to broaden the Zionist executive to include all Jewish organizations. Aryeh Pincus, chairman of the executive, said in a keynote address that the whole question before the movement must center on the best way to increase immigration to Israel.

Rabbi Kirshblum’s plan was intended as a compromise between the status quo within the Zionist movement and the recommendations drafted by the Korn committee to separate the Jewish Agency from the WZO, with only those pledging aliyah belonging to the latter. Under it, the new movement would admit only those Zionists who pledge to immigrate to Israel within three years and who, in the meantime, study Hebrew and give their children a Jewish education.

But Israeli members of the executive insisted that the Zionist movement can be strengthened only if it embraces the largest possible numbers of Jews. American members hold, on the other hand, that an enlarged movement would defeat the purpose of aliyah, which would be better served by the creation of a hard core of Zionists who really intend to settle in Israel.