Israel and Jordan agreed last night — in the first direct contact between representatives of the two states — to the form of an application blank which will facilitate the return to the Israeli-held West Bank of the Jordan River of many Arabs who fled to the Jordanian side during the June war.
Israel had announced last month that it would permit many of those refugees to return to the West Bank if they filed applications by August 10 showing that they had been residents in the West Bank areas. Jordan had refused efforts by the International Red Cross to circulate those application blanks because the documents bore the imprint of the Government of Israel.
Late last night, Joseph Tekoah, deputy director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, met near the Allenby Bridge over the Jordan River with Dr. Yussuf Zehny, secretary-general of the Jordanian Red Crescent. Also participating in the conference was a representative of the International Red Cross. Mr. Tekoah and Dr. Zehny agreed that the application forms would be reprinted to carry the imprints of both the Jordanian Government and the Israeli Government, as well as the symbol of the International Red Cross. Mr. Tekoah also agreed that Israel would extend the deadline for filing those applications from August 10 to August 31.
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