Javits Urges Israel to Come Up with Far-reaching Settlement Ideas

Sen. Jacob K. Javits has urged Israeli leaders to come up with far-reaching proposals for a settlement with the Arabs embodying major concessions by Israel because, he believed, the U.S. would not tolerate a Middle East stalemate indefinitely and would seek to impose its own solution along the lines of the Rogers Plan, reliable sources reported here today.

According to the sources, the New York Republican stressed, in his talks with Israeli leaders, that if Israel submitted a moderate plan but the Arabs refused such political concessions as a peace treaty and recognition of Israel, the U.S. would back Israel strongly and unconditionally, informed sources here said the U.S. government has not fully tested Arab reaction its initiative toward an end of belligerency agreement–something considerably short of a formal peace settlement–because of the Lebanese crisis that is preoccupying both Damascus and Cairo at present.

In a radio interview today. Javits said he believed the immediate prospects for progress lay in the direction of an agreement ending the state of war between Israel and its neighbors. He also referred to the recent West Bank elections which brought a new generation of Arab leaders into local office there as a good opportunity for forward movement. Javits said that he had gained the impression from his talks with officials in Egypt. Syria and Jordan that those countries “recognized the fact that Israel is here to stay.”

Sen. Charles Mathias (R.Md.), said in television interview tonight that it was “ridiculous” to speak of a “low point” in U.S.-Israeli relations. He said the dispute over transitional quarter aid was one “between friends.” He stressed that he personally favored providing Israel with the extra $550 million transitional package. He also supported Israel’s request for $1.8 billion in fiscal 1977 and said he was sure Congress as a whole would respond similarly.