Dr. Walter Eytan, director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, left here today by air for Israel where he will consult with Premier David Ben Gurion and Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett. During his absence, Elias Sassoon, Foreign Office Arab expert, will conduct the peace talks.
Dr. Eytan’s sudden and unexpected departure on the eve of the meeting of the U.N. Conciliation Commission with the Arab delegations to discuss the “Gaza Plan” has caused considerable adverse confluent. Before the Commission-Arab meeting, the Commission’s secretariat circulated a report of the official denial issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Tel Aviv that Israel had accepted the Gaza Plan. The secretariat also circulated Israeli press comments on the subject, and headlines such as “Israel Government Declares No Return of Refugees.”
It was reported last week that Israel had accepted a proposal to incorporate the Gaza coastal strip into the new state along with the entire population of the region, including some 300,000 Arab refugees in it. On the same day, in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said such a plan had not been accepted and that there had been no change in the Israeli attitude that the return of Arab refugees depended on an over-all peace settlement.
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