Mordechai Shalev, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said today that his country believes that the Geneva conference is the next logical step in the Middle East peace efforts but also hopes that the step-by-step approach of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger would find expression through “other ways and means” as the time for the Geneva conference nears, despite the breakdown of Kissinger’s most recent efforts.
Speaking at a press conference sponsored by Histadrut-National Committee for Labor Israel. Shalev reiterated Israel’s intention to bar the Palestine Liberation Organization from the Geneva peace talks when they are resumed, Explaining that the admission of any new negotiating partner must have the unanimous consent of the original negotiating parties, he noted that “Israel is an original party and Israel will not consent to the admission of the PLO for to do so would be to make us part of a plan for our own self-destruction.”
Shalev said Egypt was fully to blame for the failure of Kissinger’s efforts to promote a second-stage agreement with Israel and charged that Cairo was trying to place responsibility on Israel to drive “a wedge between the U.S. and Israel. But that will not happen,” the Israeli diplomat declared. “Despite the headlines, I see no basic changes in the U.S.-Israeli relationship,” he said adding that “Mr. Kissinger confirmed this in his recent (last Wednesday) press conference when he stated that the U.S. remains committed to Israel’s survival.
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