Premier Golda Meir of Israel contended in a taped television interview today that Israel’s permanent retention of the Sharm el-Sheikh strongpoint in southern Sinai was vital to peace in the Middle East. Sharm el-Sheikh commands the Straits of Tiran which give Israel’s port of Eilat access to the sea. It was occupied by Israeli forces during the June, 1967 Six-Day War. Mrs. Meir made her remark when asked by interviewer Peter Snow whether she endorsed Defense Minister Moshe Dayan’s recent statement that he would prefer to keep Sharm el-Sheikh without peace than to have peace without Sharm el-Sheikh. She said, “Peace in the Middle East and Sharm el-Sheikh are in exorably bound up. We do not want to have a repetition of what happened last time (the Egyptian blockade). Without Sharm el-Sheikh guarding the approaches to our southern ports, peace would be meaningless.”
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