Former Deputy Defense Minister Shimon Peres expressed the belief today that the future Arab-Israeli peace pattern might emerge from the manner in which Israel administered the areas it occupied in the June war. He told a dinner meeting here launching the South African Jewish day school campaign that in these areas, “our policy is tough only when necessary, liberal wherever possible, and it is bringing about on-the-spot cooperation that may produce the conditions for peaceful coexistence.”
The former defense official stressed however that while Israel would win any further war the Arabs might try to mount, “our main concern is not military victories but a permanent peace settlement in the Middle East. We don’t,” he said, “want to become victims of our military successes. What we want is peace.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
