Prospects for the success of the Lausanne peace talks on Palestine improved considerably today following a series of private talks between members of the U.N. Palestine Conciliation Commission and delegates of the various countries. In particular, the Israeli delegation was able to elaborate on its earlier position in a way which materially lessened previous dissatisfaction of the members of the Commission.
Eliahu Sassoon of the Israeli delegation proposed that the Commission should immediately proceed to holding direct talks between Israel and each Arab state separately, with the participation of the Commission. It is proposed that the first item of these talks should be the frontier question.
In private talks between the French member of the U.N. today, Claude de Boissaner, and ##ad Ammoun, head of the Lebanese delegation, the Lebanese tentatively agreed to this procedure. Israeli-Lebanese tails will, therefore, probably open a second round of exchange of views early next week.
The Israelis have suggested that frontier talks with Egypt should come next, These also do not appear to offer- any insuperable difficulties, as the Israelis have indicated that they make no claim on one Gaza coastal strip held by Egypt. The Egyptians are, however, awaiting the arrival of the head of their delegation, Abdel Moneim Bey Mustapha, director-general of Arab affairs in Cairo, before reaching a definite decision.
The Israelis have proposed that after agreement is achieved on the frontiers, the conferring parties shall turn to a discussion of the future of Jerusalem. Only then will they consider the refugee question in the light of earlier agreements and difficulties.
The Israelis still exclude Syria from their proposal for direct talks. The Conciliation Commission has agreed that it would be unreasonable to have peace talks prior to the conclusion of an armistice. Arrangements for talks with Trans Jordan still await the arrival of the Trans Jordanian delegation, which is expected today.
Commission members met in private today to work out some kind of agenda along the lines of the Israeli proposals. Meanwhile, considerable pressure has come from Lake Success for the Commission to show some results which would help the United States delegation at the U.N. General Assembly to support Israel’s application for admission to the United Nations.
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