Navon Warns Against Talks Between Diaspora Jews and Arab Leaders

A conference of leaders of Anglo-Jewry was warned today that talks between diaspora Jews and Arabs and Arab leaders would not hasten peace between Israel and her neighbors. The warning was given by Yitzhak Navon, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, to a “Solidarity With Israel” conference.

Referring to a planned trip to Cairo by leaders of the World Jewish Congress, Navon said that he had told WJC President Nahum Goldmann that he doubted the Arab leaders intentions. They were less interested in peace than in driving a wedge between Israel and the United States and between Israel and world Jewry. If the Arab leaders really wanted peace, they knew that they could only negotiate with Israel, he said.

By welcoming diaspora Jewish leaders, the Arab states aimed to show up Israel as intransigent. Navon said he did not object to a planned WJC mission to Cairo but had asked Goldmann: “Do not commit us to anything.”

Navon also clarified a report that he had challenged diaspora leaders’ right to voice opinion on Israeli foreign policy issues. He said he only disapproved of comments on vital matters impinging on national defense. “If Israel has to fight again, it is our children in Israel who will have to do the fighting,” he said.

The conference at which Navon was the guest speaker, was similar to one held a year ago, at the same hotel near London Airport, to demonstrate Jewish solidarity in the wake of the anti-Zionist resolution at the United Nations General Assembly. The 240 delegates, representing more than 40 organizations and public bodies, reviewed the past year’s work and reaffirmed Anglo-Jewry’s emotional and practical commitment to Israel in the fields of immigration, fund-raising, tourism, education and public relations.