A peace appeal to the Arabs by Foreign Minister Abba Eban has been rejected by El Fatah, the Palestinian guerrilla organization, and is expected to have repercussions from the militant right-wing Gahal faction in the Israeli government. Mr. Eban broadcast his appeal in Arabic on Sunday, the eve of Israel Independence Day. He urged the Arab people to take the initiative in forming an independent Arab state in part of the former Mandated territories to co-exist with Israel. His reference was to Jordan, formerly Trans-Jordan, which like Palestine was under British mandate until granted independence in 1946. According to some reports of Mr. Eban’s remarks, he indicated that parts of the West Bank might be included in a reconstituted Jordan-Palestine.
El Fatah radio in Cairo called the Eban proposal “just another Israeli maneuver.” Jordan’s semiofficial newspaper, Al Destour, urged Palestinians to whom Mr. Eban addressed his message to increase their resistance. Commentators here saw the El Fatah reaction as another instance of its rejection of the idea of a sovereign Jewish state. New attacks on Mr. Eban from Gahal (Herut-Liberal) ranks were expected. They are already furious with him for supporting Deputy Premier Yigal Allon’s plan to partition the West Bank and establish Israeli settlements only in its uninhabited areas. According to some Gahal leaders, the West Bank, if not all of present-day Jordan, is “part of the Holy Land.”
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