Mrs. Meir Says in View of Cease-fire Violations Shooting Could Resume Soon

Premier Golda Meir said last night that in view of the cease-fire violations by the Egyptians and Russians “I would not be surprised if shooting should commence before the 90-day temporary truce was up. It could happen tomorrow or the day after.” Mrs. Meir, referring to the movement of the missiles by the Egyptians toward the Suez Canal within hours after the cease-fire went into effect, said this “was not an encouraging beginning to peace talks.” Mrs. Meir made her remarks at a meeting of the Labor Party’s Central Committee. Explaining the acceptance by her government of the United States peace proposals, Mrs. Meir stated that “Israel is entering the new phase in political affairs which include peace talks without any illusions. We must not allow our desire for peace to blind our eyes or minds to the cruel realities of life.” The Premier, who was referring to talks Israel is now conducting with the U.S. over the standstill violation, was seen here by some observers as defending her government’s reliance on the U.S. against mounting concern and impatience in some Israeli quarters with the Nixon administration’s slowness in accepting Israel’s evidence of missile movements and shooting violations by the Egyptians. (Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird, appearing on ABC “Issues and Answers” program yesterday expressed impatience with the debate over the Egyptian missile buildup in violation of the cease-fire agreement and called for a start of the Arab-Israeli talks. “I think the important thing for us is to move forward toward negotiations and not to debate what went on 12 hours before (the cease-fire) or 12 hours afterward.” According to some observers in Washington, Mr. Laird’s remarks were the first public evaluation by a high ranking administration leader.)

Mrs. Meir noted that Israel regarded the movement of missiles as one of utmost gravity. Regarding the pending peace talks under the auspices of the United Nations special Middle East negotiator Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring, she said that the voices coming from Arab countries are not encouraging “but with all the difficulties involved we must try because there is always the slight chance that perhaps something would move.” Foreign Ministry officials had been reported giving serious thought to delaying the start of the talks with Egypt and Jordan until the military status quo in the canal zone was restored. In an apparent move to mollify critics in the government and among Israel’s citizens Mrs. Meir declared that Israel was entering the talks not out of a sense of weakness nor with any illusions but because of a desire to prevent a renewal of the fighting. “We would have never agreed to talks if we thought we would be weaker than before,” she said. Some political observers here viewed this approach as a way of letting Washington know that if Israel received some assurance that the administration would do more than just study Israel’s evidence of the standstill violation, Israel would not view this incident as an impediment toward beginning the peace negotiations.

Discussing the economic situation, Mrs. Meir explained the need for new taxes which Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir announced last night would become effective at midnight. Mr. Sapir called for a sweeping increase in taxes to support defense needs which he said was likely to reach 30 percent of the gross national product next year. The Finance Minister stated the new taxes would be mainly on imported goods and consumer items aimed at raising an additional $500 million in revenues over the next seven months. Mrs. Meir also appealed to world Jewry to increase their financial aid to Israel. She said that although, for example, American Jews cannot help Israel by buying military equipment they can alleviate the burden of civilian expenditure. Summarizing her remarks, Mrs. Meir said that she would oppose dealing with the question of borders in the first meeting with Dr. Jarring. “What we seek is peace and security not areas, not borders,” she said. “For a true peace I am ready to make concessions. If there is no genuine peace I am not prepared for any concessions on my part.”