Former Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin yesterday called on high-ranking United States officials not to make statements on final Israel-Arab borders and the status of the Palestinians prior to the convening of a Geneva peace conference. In remarks to two gatherings of Jewish leaders which produced over $1.35 million in Israel Bond sales, Rabin said that restraints on such comments would strengthen the United States’ role as “an honest broker” in narrowing the gap between Israel and the Arabs at any negotiations for a Mideast peace.
Rabin spoke at a morning reception honoring him and his wife, Leah, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Martin in Great Neck, L.I. In the evening, he was the principal speaker at an Israel Bond reception in The Fifth Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan, which paid tribute to Rabbi Noah Chodos. The noted Israeli, now a leader of the opposition Labor Party in the Knesset, told the two groups that “the major obstacle to peace in the Middle East continues to be the Arab nations’ inability to reconcile themselves to Israel as a viable Jewish State.”
“When you speak of a Middle East peace,” Rabin said, “it must mean not just the cessation of war but also the establishment of relations affecting the lives of all parties in the area. This is what Israel wants, but so far no Arab country sees it in this context.” He said another major element must include the creation of boundaries which Israel can defend. “The boundaries cannot be the same lines that existed before the Six-Day War,” he said. Another matter to be settled, he stated, is the disposition of the Palestinians. He rejected a Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan.
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