Nasser Quoted Saying He is Ready for Peace with Israel if Conditions Are Met

President Gamal Abdel Nasser, of Egypt rejected proposals to restore the cease-fire along the Suez Canal but declared that he was ready for peace with Israel if the latter withdrew from all occupied Arab territories and agreed to accept or compensate Arab refugees. Col. Nasser’s stipulations for peace were contained in an interview published today by the newspaper Le Monde. The interviewer, Eric Rouleau, reported that during the interview the Egyptian leader claimed that he never wanted war with Israel and that the two countries could eventually have normal economic and diplomatic relations although that was a very long term prospect.

Col. Nasser’s rejection of the cease-fire in the canal zone was regarded as Egypt’s reply to Premier Golda Meir’s statement in the Knesset yesterday that Israel would halt military activities if the Arabs did. Apart from demands for Israel’s total withdrawal from Arab territories and a solution of the refugee problem, Col. Nasser mentioned other points that he said would have to be part of a settlement. He said that Egypt would never accept the total demilitarization of the Sinai Peninsula but would agree to a demilitarized zone of about 12 kilometers on both sides of the frontier. He said Egypt was prepared to accept a Soviet proposal that United Nations troops be stationed for three years at Sharm el Sheikh, the strong point commanding the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.

With respect to the status of Jerusalem, he said the Old City must be returned to Jordan but the entire city could remain open and unified by agreement of both sides. Col. Nasser claimed that the only issue outstanding between his country and Israel at the time of the latter’s independence in 1948 was the refugee problem. Had Israel accepted the United Nations resolution to permit the return of the refugees or to compensate them for their property “We would have established a genuine peace 20 years ago.” Now, he added, the situation has been complicated by Israel’s occupation of Arab territory. He said that if Israel would implement the Security Council’s resolution “there would be no other differences between us. Clearly a true normalization would be gradual as it is impossible to wipe out with a single stroke of the pen the bitterness accumulated by 20 years of war.” Col. Nasser insisted that “there can be no possible negotiations with Israel as long as they occupy territories which belong to us, Jordan and Syria.”