Jackson Amendment an Internal U.S. Matter, Mrs. Meir Tells Press

Premier Golda Meir said here that Israel’s attitude toward the basic freedom of Soviet Jews to emigrate transcends the Jackson Amendment which is an internal affair of the United States. She said the current controversy over the amendment was a matter for the U.S. to solve.

Mrs. Meir answered questions at a press luncheon here Friday. She also expressed skepticism at press reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Elliot Richardson had said the U.S. was restraining the delivery of certain modern weapons to Israel to prevent increased tension in the Middle East and to avoid an arms race. Mrs. Meir said she could not imagine that the Defense Secretary would publicly contradict her own statements on U.S. arms supplies.

The Premier said that she had not mentioned any particular type of weapons or any quantities in reporting on her talks with U.S. officials in Washington last month. “I did say that agreement had been reached in principle on the supply of certain important items while other types of weapons were still under discussion.”

Mrs. Meir said in reply to other questions that no settlements were established in the administered territories except by explicit decision by the government. She said the Allon plan for the West Bank, though submitted to the Cabinet, was neither rejected nor approved and therefore cannot be regarded as guideline to government settlement policies in the territories.

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan called last week for a policy of free transactions in the administered territories so that Jews could purchase land there “with the free will of the sellers.” Mrs-Meir said that Dayan’s proposal was on the Cabinet’s agenda and therefore she would not comment on it.