President Johnson reaffirmed yesterday his position in support of the “five-point program” he outlined June 19 for peace in the Middle East. The President restated his position on the basic requisites for a peaceful settlement during a meeting with National Commander Malcolm A. Tarlov of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA. Mr. Tarlov called at the White House to see the President in connection with the 72nd annual national convention of the JWV.
The five points enunciated June 19 included the “recognized right of national life, justice for the refugees, innocent maritime passage, limits on the wasteful and destructive arms race” in the Middle East.
The United States Government meanwhile informed the JWV that there were “no plans for any new training for military personnel for any of the countries which have broken relations with the United States.” This took place when Mr. Tarlov called on Assistant Secretary of State Lucius D. Battle to protest published reports that the numbers of Arab military officers to be trained here was being increased from 326 to 633.
Mr. Battle reassured Tarlov in person and by letter that no new programs were to be undertaken with Arab states that severed relations. He said 20 Arab officers were still here from Sudan and Iraq, both of which broke off relations with the United States in June. Mr. Battle stressed that they “will depart as soon as their existing training is finished.”
In an address before the convention banquet, Gideon Rafael, who served as Israeli representative to the United Nations during the Middle East war, emphasized that Israel would agree only to direct face-to-face peace negotiations with the Arabs. He reiterated that Jerusalem was not negotiable.
Ambassador Rafael charged that Russia was directly responsible for arming the Arabs and causing the war. He urged measures to restrict the flow of Soviet arms into the region. He also traced the developments in the Middle East from Egypt’s closure of the Strait of Tiran to the current situation.
The convention delegates endorsed for the third year the United States policy in Vietnam but, for the first time, the resolution noted that the war had resulted in “suffering and death to the Vietnamese on both sides.”
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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.
