Peres Says Israel Will Seek to Preserve Its Special Arms Supplies Relationship with the U.S.

Shimon Peres, who is acting as Premier, told the Cabinet today that Israel will act through all possible channels to preserve its special relationship with the United States with respect to arms supplies and the joint development of modern weapons. Peres’ remarks at the weekly Cabinet meeting were the first official reaction to news from Washington that the U.S. was considering dropping Israel from the top priority list of arms recipients.

Peres said the special relationship was essential to Israel’s security and observed that there is an understanding with the U.S. that maintaining Israel’s strength was essential not only for its self defense but in the interests of the negotiating process for a Middle East settlement.

In his comments today, Peres also modified somewhat his earlier favorable reaction to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s statement at a Washington press conference last week that the U.S. would have “suggestions” to offer for a Mideast settlement though it would not attempt to impose a settlement.

Peres said experience showed that whenever the U.S. floated its own settlement suggestions it created a confrontation with at least one of the parties to the conflict. It would be better, therefore, if Washington confined itself to offering its good offices to the parties for negotiations and refrained from suggesting plans, Peres said. He claimed that if the U.S. ever tried to impose a settlement, the imposition would fall on Israel alone since America could not impose a settlement on the Arab states.

Peres rejected a suggestion by Prof. Shlomo Avineri, director general of the Foreign Ministry, that the next Israeli government should draw a peace map of its own. Peres said that for the time being, the government will adhere to its old policy of no maps until the negotiating process begins.

ALLON TO RAISE ARMS ISSUE WITH VANCE

Foreign Minister Yigal Allon told the Cabinet that Israel has already expressed “deep concern” over the arms supply issue and said he would raise it when he meets Vance in London Wednesday. However, the Foreign Minister stressed that the removal of Israel from the top priority list of arms recipients was not yet an approved policy of the U.S. Administration but a suggestion presented to the President. He said Israel had the assurances of American officials that there would be no change in the basic arms supplies. But despite the assurances, concern exists and Israel will continue its diplomatic effort to change the new American approach, he said.

Allon praised legislation now before the U.S. Congress aimed against the Arab boycott. He said it was a considerable step forward in the fight against the boycott but by no means the end.

(In Washington, the Senate Thursday approved by a 90-1 vote a bill to bar American companies from complying with the Arab boycott against Israel. Sen. Jesse Holms (R.NC) was the lone legislator to vote against the measure. A similar measure was approved by the House on April 21 but there are differences which will have to be reconciled in a Senate-House conference.

(The key elements of the bills would bar American firms from refusing to do business with other American firms, which are on the Arab blacklist for Trading with Israel, or from complying with boycotts imposed by one nation on another American firms also would be barred from discriminating–to comply with a foreign boycott–against other American firms and citizens on grounds of race, religion, sex or national origin. American firms also would be prohibited from providing information about a person’s sex, religion, race or national origin, if such information is sought to help enforce a boycott.)