Rabin Concedes Egyptian Violations but Stresses Accord is Working Well

Premier Yitzhak Rabin conceded today that there have been cases of violations of the Sinai interim agreement with Egypt by both sides, some of which were unintentional. But he insisted that the agreement is working well and stressed that it had given Israel at least one year of quiet and has had far-reaching consequences in the Arab world.

Rabin made his remarks to high school pupils in Petach Tikva this morning. Last night he spoke in a similar vein at a meeting of Yemenite Jews here. The Premier is apparently disturbed by a statement earlier this week by Gen. Herzi Shafir, commander of Israeli forces in Sinai, who accused the Egyptians of important violations of the interim accord. Rabin told the Yemenite group that statements by generals–without mentioning names–were causing undue anxiety. There is no trouble on the Sinai front and to the best of his knowledge, neither Egypt nor Israel intend to violate the agreement, he said.

Shafir told a meeting of the Soldiers Welfare Association Sunday that as far back as 1974 when disengagement agreements were in effect, the Egyptians violated its clauses limiting the number of regiments east of the Suez Canal. He said a more serious violation was the construction of a fortification network on the eastern bank of the canal which could be used as a base to launch an attack on Israel.

Military sources acknowledged that the Egyptians have fortified the canal area but said that was not in violation of the interim agreement. The sources noted that Israel has also constructed fortifications to shelter its troops. Shafir himself agreed that the situation on the Egyptian front was satisfactory.

He also said that Egypt, unlike Syria and Jordan, has not been able to restore its military strength to the pre-Yom Kippur War levels. He observed that if the rift between Egypt and the Soviet Union was an authentic split. it would take years before Egypt could convert its armed forces to Western armaments.