The core of the Middle East conflict is Israel’s relations with the Arab countries and not the Palestinian issue, Premier Yitzhak Rabin stressed in an interview with the afternoon newspaper Yediot Aharonot. In the interview, Friday the first given to an Israeli newspaper since he assumed office, Rabin noted that during the Cabinet discussions last week on the Palestinian issue “There was not one minister who supported the establishment of a third country between Israel and Jordan.”
The interview ranged over a wide variety of subjects. Rabin said he would consider bringing Likud into the Cabinet if the opposition was “willing to make territorial concessions in return for peace.” Meanwhile he asserted, “There is no difficulty on continuing with this coalition… for the entire term of the present Knesset.”
Other statements made by Rabin were:
“Despite the military accomplishment in the Yom Kippur War, there is still no suitable answer to the shocks and question marks which were raised by the war. We still have not translated our lives into the reality of a people in war. Our main effort in the near future should be to prepare ourselves for a war, regardless of the efforts to reach a settlement.
“–The Arab world cannot move one step without being lead by Egypt. Therefore Egypt is first to hold negotiations with. Then come Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
“We do not approve of a proposal related to King Hussein to withdraw about six miles west of the Jordan. However, there were other proposals which spoke of a functional separation of forces rather than a geographic one, i.e. that the Israel Defense Force remains in Judea and Samaria, where there is Jewish settlement, but Jordan assumes civilian responsibility in certain parts.
“–I have personal relationships with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Undersecretary of State Joseph Sisco which enables good contacts even when we represent different interests.
“–I do not think one should appoint political figures to central army posts without an authoritative decision and after a principle discussion. It is most essential to spare the IDF from politicalization.
“–Even after the visit of the American Secretary of the Treasury, William Simon, there is still no guarantee that all our financial demands will be met.
“–The most difficult moment in my career, as Premier was when the government decided to evacuate the settlers from Nablus (in the previous settlement attempt.) The most gratifying moment was when our prisoners of war returned from Syria.”
Defense Minister Shimon Peres said in a television interview over the weekend that Israel had received information of Arab plans to attack Israel within six months to a year. He said most of the reports, developing in the last few weeks, involved mainly Syria, which he described as extremist, impatient and loaded with weapons. Peres said Syria already had a larger air force than Egypt “while its patience is far shorter. Peres said that Syria insists that since Israel is not prepared to withdraw from the Golan Heights, fighting should be resumed at some time or other.
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