Hopes Are Buoyed by Egypt’s Announcement of Unef Extension

The response of President Anwar Sadat to Israel’s latest proposals for an interim settlement in Sinai remained uncertain today following the Egyptian leader’s televised speech in Cairo last night. But Egypt’s agreement to extend the UNEF mandate, announced in Cairo and at the United Nations shortly after noon today, raised hopes of a successful outcome to the current negotiations.

Very highly placed sources here expressed the view last night that Sadat’s omission from his speech of any reference to the ongoing talks for an interim settlement in Sinai was in fact an indication that he was hopeful of a successful outcome and would agree to the continued presence of UNEF to facilitate further progress in the talks. That assessment was partially confirmed by the announcement that Egypt’s reply to Monday’s appeal from the Security Council to extend UNEF was “positive.” (See Yitzhak Rabin’s reaction P. 3.)

ISRAEL WILL NOT BE BULLIED

Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, in a Knesset speech delivered several hours before the UN announcement, warned Sadat that “if Egypt believes that by threatening the existence of UNEF she threatens us, or she will manage to squeeze concessions which we are not willing to make otherwise, she is making a grave mistake. The concessions we are willing to make as our contribution in the peace efforts we shall make without threats, without pressures and without maneuvers to create them,” Allon declared.

“Whatever we cannot give up we shall not give up, even if they will threaten or press us,” he said. “The unquestionable authority and undisturbed existence of UNEF are an integral part of the separation of forces agreement with Egypt.”

Allon spoke in reply to two agenda motions in the Knesset and was evidently reacting to Sadat’s assertion last night that he had not yet decided whether to accept the Security Council’s appeal to extend UNEF and would not make a decision before consulting with his national security advisors. Allon did not go into details about the prospects for an interim agreement nor did he react to reports that Egypt opposed Israel’s suggestion that American personnel man and supervise the advance warning systems in Sinai as part of an interim accord.

WARNS AGAINST EXPULSION FROM UN

The Foreign Minister dwelt at great length on moves by the Moslem states and some of their Third World allies to try to expel Israel from the UN this fall. He said he did not foresee such a possibility as long as the decision remained the prerogative of the Security Council. However, he warned that Israel would regard any steps in the UN to harm her as a threat to the entire world organization and to the advancement of peace in the Middle East and throughout the world.

Allon said that Israel, therefore, would not only seek to muster votes against any anti-Israel initiatives but would seek to prevent the issue from arising at the UN. He said Israel was greatly encouraged by events such as Canada’s “brave decision” to refuse to host the UN-sponsored conference on crime prevention to which the Palestine Liberation Organization had been invited and by strong expressions by the United States and the European Common Market countries rejecting Arab plans to expel Israel.

Allon warned that if the Arabs manage to harm Israel’s position in the UN, the world would not accept it quietly and in such case Israel would re-evaluate her position toward UN activities including the role the UN and its institutions are playing in Middle East peace efforts–which includes the UN forces in the Mideast and perhaps even the Geneva conference at a later stage. He said he expected all of Israel’s friends to take a clear position that if Israel’s status is harmed, they will assume the same status. “The fate of Israel should be the fate of the organization itself,” Allon said.