Israel has reiterated its position of absolute refusal to have the Israeli-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission discuss items not covered in the mutually agreed-upon agenda. This view was presented last night by Moshe Sasson, head of the Israeli delegation to the talks, during a meeting with Lt. Gen. Odd Bull, Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. Mr. Sasson is chief of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s armistice affairs division.
The fourth meeting of the talks is scheduled to be held on Thursday at Mahanayim on the Israeli side of the B’not Yaacov bridge. The last session was adjourned abruptly by Gen. Bull when the Syrian delegation persisted in raising issues not on the agenda, including the question of Israel’s sovereignty over the demilitarized zone inside her territory.
Mr. Sasson had asked for the meeting with Gen. Bull, in order to clearly and openly define Israel’s stand on the issue and leave no doubt in the minds of the UNTSC and Syrian officials. Although Israel is most reluctant to break up the talks, political circles here stressed that, under no circumstances, will they agree to divergence from the agenda. The agenda’s sole item is restricted to talks on farm-land cultivation and cultivation rights in the demilitarized zones on the Israeli-Syrian frontiers, over which Israel has sole sovereignty.
In an article published today in the latest issue of the Army weekly, Bamachneh, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol refuted claims that Israel did not hesitate to exert force against Jordan while avoiding the use of force against Syria. In addition to being Premier, Mr. Eshkol is also Minister of Defense.
“When we found it necessary to act against Syria,” Mr. Eshkol declared, “we employed tanks and planes. When we decided, we acted. We shall revert to the use of arms in accordance with the requirements and circumstances on the merit of each case.” Mr. Eshkol warned the Syrians that they were going too far in their persistent attempts both to undermine the talks in the Armistice Commission and their continued acts of sabotage.
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