Gen. Danny Matt, military coordinator on the West Bank, told a Knesset committee yesterday that American diplomats attached to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Consulate in Jerusalem are assuring West Bank Arabs that “eventually they will get what they really want.” According to Matt, who appeared before a closed session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, the American diplomats meet frequently with West Bank leaders urging them to join in the autonomy talks between Israel and Egypt.
He also reportedly said that Quaker charitable organizations based in the U.S. and working on the West Bank consistently supplied funds for legal action brought by local Arabs against expropriation of their lands. He also claimed that sizeable funds were flowing into the West Bank from Arab rejectionist states, channeled to extremist elements and intended to make them independent of Israeli largesse.
Matt’s remarks were leaked to the media, causing committee chairman Moshe Arens to scold Knesset correspondents today for publishing material that could prejudice national security. The newsmen countered that if the matters reported by Matt had not been squelched by the military censors, there would be no security threat.
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