The next three days during which UN special envoy Gunnar Jarring will consult here with Secretary General U Thant and his chief aides, representatives of the permanent members of the Security Council, the head of the Israel mission and, presumably, the Egyptian and Jordanian envoys, may mark a decisive turning point in the Middle East situation, informed sources said here today.
There is general agreement that Dr. Jarring has gone as far as he can on his peace-making using the methods and procedures so far employed. To date, in his numerous talks in Jerusalem, Cairo and Amman, the UN envoy has not dealt with the substantive issues of peace. Nor has he put forward any definite proposals and procedures for negotiations leading to the establishment of peace.
During the three days he is to remain here for reports and consultations, Dr. Jarring is expected to reach the decision whether to proceed to a new stage and summon Israel and the two Arab states to the conference table.
(The Tel Aviv daily Maariv quoted Prime Minister Levi Eshkol today as having declared that Ambassador Jarring’s mission was to bring Israel and the Arabs together in direct talks and that if he failed, there would be no talks and the status quo would continue. According to Maariv. Mr. Eshkol made this statement at a closed meeting with Labor Party MKs. There was no official confirmation and Mr. Eshkol was not available for comment.
ISRAELIS MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONCESSION TO JARRING ON NEGOTIATIONS PROCEDURES
The UN envoy returned here tonight with a definite concession from Jerusalem which Israeli sources described as a significant one, motivated by the desire to afford maximum assistance to Dr. Jarring in the quest for peace. That is the withdrawal from the previous adamant Israeli insistence on direct face-to-face talks with the Arabs independent of any third party – although a third party role in bringing the two sides together would have been acceptable.
Israel has made it clear to Dr. Jarring, it was said here today, that it is prepared to go into negotiating sessions summoned by him and held under his chairmanship. It was pointed out here that this paralleled the procedure followed in the 1949 Rhodes armistice talks.
The Israel mission made public documents tonight clearly establishing that the Rhodes negotiations involved joint Israel-Egyptian meetings under the chairmanship of the UN mediator. Earlier, a UN spokesman had told the press that at Rhodes, the procedure had been for the UN mediator to meet each delegation separately and that there had not been any joint meetings. The documents released tonight were reports from Ralph Bunche, the UN mediator to the President of the Security Council, describing the joint sessions. The delegation also announced that it had the verbatim transcripts of the joint sessions.
ISRAELIS SAY THEY WILL ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN RHODES PROCEDURES
An Israeli spokesman made it clear here tonight that while Israel had made a major concession in the cause of peace, it would not accept any procedure which would be a step backward from the Rhodes procedure or would be any derogation of Israel sovereignty.
Both United Nations and Israeli sources denied reports published here that Egypt and Jordan had agreed to send delegations to Cyprus to negotiate peace on the basis of a “Jarring formula” involving procedure. Existence of any such formula was denied and it was pointed out that if the decision this weekend is for Dr. Jarring to invite Israel, Egypt and Jordan to send peace delegations to Cyprus, there is as yet no sure indication of what the Arab reaction would be.
Israel, it is believed, mindful of the success of the Rhodes procedure, and the failure of the 1949 Lausanne talks, would prefer to negotiate with each country separately, in the belief that it would be easier to arrive at settlement of the issues separating them since these issues are not identical in each case.
Dr. Jarring arrived at Kennedy International Airport tonight. Among those meeting him at the airport was Ambassador Josef Tekoah, head of the Israeli delegation.
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