The tri-partite United Nations-Israeli-Arab peace talks were at a standstill today while the Israeli delegation awaited receipt of instructions from Tel Aviv and the four Arab delegations studied the five-point peace proposals submitted to them yesterday by Ambassador Ely E. Palmer, chairman of the Palestine Conciliation Commission.
The commission met informally today. The next formal session between the Israeli delegation and the commission will probably be held later this week. Publication of the commission’s five-point plan will follow its submission to the Israeli delegation.
Maurice Fischer, chief Israel delegate, accused the Arab states of attempting to defeat in advance the peace efforts of the U.N. commission. He told the commission at a closed meeting yesterday that “the declarations of certain leaders pro-claiming that the Arab states will never make peace with Israel, even to the end of time, show a disposition that is as little compatible with the spirit of peace as it is with the spirit which inspires the commission.” Arab participation in the talks will be nothing but “pure formality, lacking any reality, until such time as the Arabs show a sincere desire to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors by abandoning their position of extreme hostility,” he added.
The Israeli statement also declared that the word “conference” means a meeting around a table with interested parties participating. It asked the commission to make clear that the separate sessions form of this parley had been forced on it by the Arab refusal to meet directly with Israeli representatives.
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