Israel is growing increasingly concerned over the possibility that American agreement to a Four Power meeting on the Middle East could lead to a solution imposed from outside the region. Foreign Ministry resources indicated today that developments in Washington concerning Four Power talks were being watched closely. It was felt that such talks could lead to the formation of a permanent body that would meet periodically on the issue.
Such a body, Israeli diplomats say, could work its way toward finding a solution arrived at by the Four Powers but not by the parties to the conflict. Even if such an agreement were not formally termed an “imposed” solution, that is what it could amount to, the sources said.
Israel is also concerned over the possibility of broadening the mandate of United Nations special envoy Dr. Gunnar V. Jarring and thereby changing the character of his mission. Foreign Ministry sources pointed out that the Security Council’s Nov. 22, 1967 resolution on the Mideast instructed Dr. Jarring to “promote agreement” between the two sides. Proponents of Four Power talks envisage a more substantive role for the UN envoy. Israel has not altered its insistence that any revision of the present status based on the June, 1967 cease-fire agreements must be brought about by negotiations between the two sides directly concerned. It is opposed to the French proposal of turning Dr. Jarring into the executor of the Security Council’s resolution with Big Power backing rather than serving as an intermediary whose task it is to bring the two sides together. Israel has made its position clear to the U.S. and Britain. While both powers have not rejected the French overtures outright, it is still hoped that they will not go along with France’s idea of a Middle East solution dictated by the Four Powers. The feeling in Israel is that while the Soviet Union and France pay “lip service” to the idea that the Big Powers should consult with both sides in the dispute, their real intent is to return the Middle East to the situation that existed before June 5, 1967, when the Six-Day War broke out.
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