Foreign Minister Abba Eban views the Nixon-Brezhnev summit talks in Washington as the latest in a series of diplomatic set-backs for the Arabs. One result of the Washington summit was to put aside the Middle East problem so as not to impair the efforts to ease world tensions, Eban said in an address to the World Jewish Congress Executive meeting here. (See Page 4 News Analysis.)
He said another set-back is the Security Council’s Middle East debate which so far has resulted in total defeat for Arab hopes. The Arabs are left with three possibilities-to renew the war, to let things continue as they are or to negotiate, Eban said. We have to bring them to the stage where they will choose the third alternative, the Israeli Foreign Minister-added.
Eban told the WJC Executive members that he could not conceive of an Israel with a million or more Arabs within its boundaries. On the other hand, he said, Israel can never return to the pre-1967 boundaries. He said he was opposed to those elements who want to perpetuate the present situation of no war, no peace. He said the situation now in administered territories was practically and morally justified as long as we regard it as a temporary situation, even if the temporary stage is a prolonged one.
Eban said that history or religion should not be invoked to make the present demarcation lines permanent. History should inspire us but not decide the realities of today, he said. “I strongly recommend that we exclude the Bible or any sacred books from our internal conflicts,” he added.
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