“Though there is a sincere sire on the part of the people of Israel for final peace settlements with their Arab neighbors, few people feel that further progress is conditioned by such settlements,” Eliahu Elath, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., told a news conference here this afternoon.
“The heroic achievements of the army during the war and the progress in every field since then remain the deepest source of confidence for the people of Israel in the stability of their new state,” he added.
He emphasized, however, that the Israeli Government was sincerely and actively striving for final peace. “My government is determined to contribute its share to the renewed negotiations at Lausanne,” the Ambassador said, “and our delegation there will cooperate with members of the Palestine Conciliation Commission in the settlement of outstanding problems.”
Ambassador Elath said he merely wanted to correct the reports that if final peace was not achieved immediately Israel faces ruin. There is very little distinction, he said, to the Israel people between the state of armistice that the country is being forced to go through and a state of final peace.
The Ambassador stated he believed there is a possibility of solving the issues on the agenda at Lausanne and expressed regret that previous Israeli proposals for conciliation had not been taken up. He reported that although Israel had informed the Arab countries officially that it would be willing to take back members of Arab families separated by the war, only Lebanon had replied to the offer. Nevertheless, he said, the Arab population of Israel had increased from 66,000 to 170,000 since the end of the fighting. He also stated his belief that a “realistic solution” to the problem of Jerusalem could be found, emphasizing that only five percent of the Holy places were in Israeli territory.
In a brief summary of the economic situation in Israel, Mr. Elath stated that more than 200,000 of the 25.0,000 immigrants entering Israel in the past year have been absorbed in the economy. Housing , not employment, was the major government problem, he pointed out. He testified that agricultural equipment purchased in the U.S. through the $100,000,000 Export-Import band loan was contributing greatly to Israel’s agricultural development.
Some of Israel’s production is now finding a foreign market, he said, through trade and barter agreements with several European countries. He stressed Israel’s interest in attracting private capital from abroad, especially the U.S., and cited the government’s authorization of the export of profits. He said that in the past three months over $50,000,000 ad been invested in industrial plants.
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