Postponement of the Conference on Palestine, which was scheduled to open tomorrow, was announced today by the Foreign Office, which explained that the Palestine Arab delegates had not yet arrived. It was indicated that the parley would open either late this week or early next week.
(A dispatch from Cairo said that the four-man delegation from Palestine was conferring there with the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem, presumably to receive instructions as to the stand they are to take at the talks. The delegates are not expected to leave Cairo before Wednesday.)
Queried whether the British Government will submit a new plan to the conference, a Foreign Office spokesman said that “that will emerge after the conference opens.” He pointed out to another questioner, who asked whether an American observer would attend, that the U.S. had stated it would send an observer only if both Jews and Arabs attended. He denied that the State Department had sent a note outlining American policy on Palestine.
Official circles expect that the first portion of the conference will be devoted to a discussion of proposals by the Palestine Arabs for modification of the Arab League plan submitted at the first session of the Conference, last Summer. While these discussions are going on, the British could be meeting informally with Jewish representatives and might later submit to the conference suggestions made by the Zionists, these circles pointed out. They insisted that the government has no plan on hand for submission to the conferees.
Berl Locker, London member of the Agency executive, told a press conference today that the informal talks between the government and the Zionists, to explore whether there has been a change in circumstances permitting Jewish participation in the conference, would begin this week. He said that David Ben Gurion was expected here tomorrow and Dr. Moshe Sneh and Isaac Ben Zvi were scheduled to depart from Palestine today.
Locker took issue with speculation in the local press that the British-Jewish talks constitute a “parallel conference,” declaring that the talks would have been held even if the conference had not been scheduled and, in addition, only the Zionists will be represented, while a Jewish delegation at the conference would include non-Zionist Jewish groups. If the Jewish conferees are convinced that there are important new developments, a full session of the Zionist executive will be called, he added.
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