Israel’s Cabinet moved today to bolster confidence in the mission of the United Nations peace emissary, Ambassador Gunnar Jarring, in the face of persistent press reports in the Arab countries, and a few in Israel as well, that Jarring’s mission had failed. The Cabinet unanimously renewed its mandate to Foreign Minister Abba Eban to continue his talks with Ambassador Jarring and to encourage him to bring both sides together for direct peace negotiations. Mr. Eban and Ambassador Jarring were scheduled to meet here tonight.
Commenting on suggestions made in Egyptian and Lebanese newspapers that the Middle East dispute should be taken back to the Security Council which established Ambassador Jarring’s mission by its resolution of Nov. 22, 1967, Mr. Eban proposed that Israel should dissociate itself from such a plan should Mr. Jarring raise the question. The Cabinet concurred. Mr. Eban reported to the Cabinet on the talks between French President de Gaulle and President Abdul Aref of Iraq in Paris last week. His report was not made public, but it was believed that Mr. Eban sharply criticized the joint communique issued by de Gaulle and Aref on the latter’s departure from France yesterday which stressed only one point of the Security Council’s Nov. 22 resolution – that Israel withdraw from occupied territories. This was an imbalanced interpretation of the resolution and a misleading formulation of its intention, Mr. Eban is reported to have stated.
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