Security Needs, Relationship with Arabs, Will Determine Borders, Eban Declares

Foreign Minister Abba S. Eban said at a press conference today that there was general agreement in the Cabinet that Israel’s future boundaries should be based primarily on the nation’s security and on the juridical and political relationships that would be worked out between Israel and the Arab states in the course of future peace negotiations. However, Mr. Eban said, Israel is not yet committed to any one plan “for the simple reason that there is no context of negotiation.” Nevertheless, the foreign minister said, “the thinking and discussion of alternative ideas are serious, varied and active.” Some observers here interpreted Mr. Eban’s statement as a reference to the so-called “Allon Plan,” a proposal made public by Labor Minister Yigal Allon last week which, according to local newspapers has been favorably received by Prime Minister Eshkol, Mr. Eban, Defense Minister Dayan and others. The plan would create an Arab enclave in Judaea and Samaria, linked to Jordan by a corridor passing through Jericho. Israel would retain the Jordan Valley which has only 14,000 Arab inhabitants, more than half of them residents of Jericho.

Mr. Eban said he thought the people in the occupied areas were sincere in their desire for peace and that they could someday serve as a bridge between Israel and the Arab states. But the idea of concluding a “separate peace” with them is meaningless, he said, because “only those who have the means to wage war can bring about peace in the area, namely the governments of the independent Arab states.” The foreign minister reviewed Israel’s policies and statements over the past year and said that no opening for peace had been neglected by Israel but there had been no response on the part of any Arab state. The Arabs, he said, still stand by their Khartoum resolution — no peace, no recognition, no negotiations with Israel. Replying to a question, Mr. Eban said that neither the United States nor Britain had ever asked Israel to clarify the future geography of the region as Israel sees it, nor had they asked Israel to negotiate with any non-Arab government. He reiterated that Israel’s views on the matter were not likely to crystalize in binding form until there is very concrete evidence that negotiations are iminent. Mr. Eban also repeated Israel’s willingness to leave the administration of the holy places in Jerusalem to those who hold them holy — Moslems as well as Christians. He said this policy has been communicated to the Arab states.

(In Washington, President Johnson and Shah Mohammed Riza Dahlevi of Iran today discussed the question of Arab-Israeli compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution of Nov. 22, 1967, a joint communique disclosed following the talks.

(In addition to other topics, “they discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed that the peaceful development of the area could be accomplished only through respect for the sovereignty of Middle Eastern states and cooperation among the states of the region for their security and independence.” Agreement was also reached on U.S. assistance in building a modern Iranian defense force.)