Premier Yitzhak Rabin told the Cabinet today that Foreign Minister Yigal Allon’s Washington talks on the future of the Geneva talks and the prospects of advancing the peace negotiations had been held in order to discuss and clarify views rather than to adopt hard and fast positions. Both Allon and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had agreed that neither could adopt such positions until the Secretary had met with the Jordanian and Egyptian Foreign Ministers who are due in Washington shortly.
(See separate story on Allon talks in Washington.)
A Cabinet source reporting on Rabin’s briefing, which the Premier had stressed was in complete and based on partial reports from Allon only, said that Allon and Kissinger had exchanged views on the question of priorities: Whether Israel would negotiate with Jordan or with Egypt first. But on this, too, positions had remained fluid and the decision would only be taken following Kissinger’s talks with the Arab officials.
SETTLEMENT PROPOSAL TERMED BASELESS
Maariv, the afternoon newspaper, today reported from Washington that Kissinger and Allon had worked out a “draft proposal” for an Israel-Jordan settlement, but subsequently Israel radio carried a complete denial of these from Simcha Dinitz, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, and sources here, took said the story was baseless. On the other hand, well placed sources here have said that as a result of the Allon-Kissinger talks it now seems likely that Israel will embark on a round of talks with Jordan as the next stage of t the Mideast peace talks. The sources said this was the impression they had formed from reading reports of Allon’s three sessions with the Secretary.
They stressed that the United States was not adopting a stand of its own either on the question of priorities or on the substance of a possible settlement. Kissinger’s attitude — which Israel found most helpful and convenient — was: “You decide whom you want to talk with and what you want to say — and call on me when you need my diplomatic services.”
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