Rep. Benjamin S. Rosenthal, New York Democrat, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told President Nixon today that he was “disturbed” by reports that the Administration is considering a plan for “phased withdrawal” of Israeli forces from territories they occupied in the Six-Day War “without a genuine Arab-Israel settlement.” The congressman wrote Mr. Nixon with a request for clarification of American policy on proposed Big Four talks on the Mideast. He said he was moved to communicate with the President because “despite the President’s reassuring words at his press conference last week, reports are circulating that the Administration backs a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories as an agenda item for the Big Four talks.”
Rep. Rosenthal said that “this would constitute an imposed settlement and betray the concept of direct Arab-Israeli negotiations.” He told the President he could envisage “a dangerous situation in which the Great Powers might draw up a blueprint for a settlement and then begin to exercise all kinds of pressures on the parties to accept it even though it may fall short of the major objective which is to secure a lasting Arab-Israeli peace by obligating the parties in the area to each other.”
Rep. Rosenthal said “I am disturbed by this suggestion that Israel should be called upon to withdraw from present positions without a genuine Arab-Israeli settlement. It has always been my view that direct Arab-Israeli peace negotiations are essential” for a true general settlement.
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