Premier Yitzhak Rabin said tonight that Israel has a peace plan, that it recognizes that a Palestinian problem exists but that it is not the heart of the Middle East conflict and that the interim accord Israel signed with Egypt last Sept. 1 contains great hopes for peace and might be the real beginning of peace.
Addressing the Israel Bond Organization convention here, Rabin, who will visit Washington at the end of the month, said he hoped the U.S. would stand by its commitment to Israel to block any attempts to change Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 during the Council’s present debate on the Middle East. Any changes, he warned, would create political chaos in the Middle East and in the entire world and their effects would be felt in this region not in terms of years but with in the next few months.
Rabin said that if Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was quoted correctly, his reported remark in Cairo today that Egypt would not raise an issue if the Palestine Liberation Organization is not represented at the Geneva conference, was a stand that resulted from Egypt’s Interim agreement with Israel. He said Arab extremists feared that agreement because of its implications for a peaceful settlement.
ISRAEL’S POLICY OUTLINED
Rabin, briefly outlining Israel’s policy, said Israel clearly rejected the recent testimony before a Congressional committee by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Harold Saunders that the Palestinian issue was the core of the Middle East problem. The heart of the conflict is the lack of readiness on the Arabs’ part to reconcile themselves to the existence of the State of Israel, Rabin said. Until they cross that Rubicon, the conflict will continue.
He said that the answer to the question, does Israel have an overall peace plan, was yes, but peace had to be preceded by reconciliation. Israel is ready for territorial concessions in return for real peace, Rabin said. Another question, the Premier continued, is what is Israel’s solution to the Palestinian problem? Although that is not at the heart of the conflict, Israel recognizes that it is a problem that must be solved. It should be solved in the context of negotiations with Jordan and possibly with the participation of Palestinians on the West Bank, Rabin said.
He said that what Israel expected of Jewish communities throughout the world was that they do whatever has to be done in support of Israel. If they do “we can withstand and overcome this Arab offensive,” the Premier said.
The more than 250 Bond leaders from the U.S. and Canada arrived here yesterday for the convention. On their arrival. Rabin issued a statement declaring that the “Israel Bond Organization has been a source of increasing importance in every phase of our economic development during the past 26 years.” He emphasized that the “seriousness of our economic problems at the present time” required an “expansion of its activities to the greatest possible degree this year.”
The members of the Bond mission visited the Israel Aircraft Industries plant where they inspected samples of Israel’s latest civilian and military aircraft. They also visited the Western Wall for a brief prayer service conducted by the Israel Army Chief Chaplain; Maj. Gen. Mordechai Piron. Before coming to Israel the Bond leaders held their first session in Brussels, headquarters of the European Common Market, to discuss the prospects of expanded Israeli exports to Europe and the role of the Bond organization in stimulating Israel’s export industries.
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