Sen. George McGovern (D.S.D.) advised yesterday in a report to the Senate that “the greatest present need” in the Arab-Israeli conflict is “a general outline of a final settlement” which would be “gradually implemented through a step-by-step process.”
While advising that “neither alone nor in concert with any outside power should the United States seek to impose a settlement,” the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee outlined “certain basic elements” of “an overall settlement. He said that the Arabs should be prepared to “offer Israel full recognition and normalization of relations” in return for an agreement by Israel to return to her 1967 borders “with practical modifications negotiated by the parties.”
Such a settlement, he added, will need to be strengthened with “international guarantees,” and “additional assurances of security” through “permanent demilitarized zones, policed by international forces which could not be removed except with the consent of both parties,” In addition, McGovern said, Israel is “entitled” to “solid and precise military guarantees” from the United States.
URGES PALESTINIAN SELF-DETERMINATION
McGovern, whose 90-minute meeting with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat during his trip from March 21 to April 9, was hailed by the Arab media for being the first high U.S. official to meet with the terrorist leader, also urged that Israel “recognize Palestinian self-determination in the area of the West Bank and Gaza,” He said he was “not prepared to offer a definitive recommendation at this time” regarding Jerusalem. “It is possible,” he said that “once the central issue of the Palestinian state has been resolved, Jerusalem, like Golan and Sinai, may become a more manageable issue.”
McGovern emphasized that “my conclusions do not offer not assessment could–a certain path to peace.” He said his “perspective has been America’s interests and the claims of justice,” and “from that perspective, I see these steps” (in his suggestions) as “serving our undeniable and unbreakable commitment to the survival and security of Israel, securing the advantages of improved American relations with the Arabs, and meeting the professed goal of every party involved in the Middle East–a permanent peace.”
McGovern’s views were in a report on his trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Israel and Iran in his new capacity as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
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