Rabin’s Term As Ambassador to U.S. Extended at Request of Mrs. Meir, Eban

The term of Gen. Yitzhak Rabin as Israel’s ambassador to the United States has been extended at the request of Premier Golda Meir and Foreign Minister Abba Eban, Michael Arnon, the government secretary, announced today. He said the information was given to the Cabinet by Eban and that Rabin had agreed to the extension. This apparently was the announcement Rabin had predicted earlier today when he told newsmen that “within a day or two,” the government would issue an official communique which would “make clear” his future. There have been persistent reports that he was scheduled to be recalled to Israel for a Cabinet post. The envoy made the statement to newsmen as he prepared to return to Washington after consultations here. The announcement gave no indication as to the length of the extension but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that he will probably remain as envoy until the summer of 1972. The reports suggested he would return to Israel at the end of the present calendar year. He has served in Washington since the start of 1968. Usually reliable sources said the decision to continue him as ambassador stemmed from the delicate negotiations over an interim Egyptian-Israeli agreement on reopening of the Suez Canal, which may continue at the ambassadorial level and from the fact that no successor to the sensitive Washington post has yet been found.