Members of the Israeli delegation today disclosed that Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok held a cordial exchange of views over the week-end with Andrei V. Vishinsky, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, and Yakov A. Malik, Soviet chief delegate to the U.N., over the Palestine proposals of the late U.N. mediator Count Folke Bernadotte. The Israeli Foreign Minister was accompanied by David Livshitz, a member of the Israeli delegation to the General Assembly.
It was also reported in U.N. circles that the chief question discussed Saturday between Shertok and acting U.N. Palestine mediator Dr. Ralph Bunche involved the institution of safety measures for U.N. truce observers stationed in Jerusalem.
Shortly after his arrival in Paris, Dr. Bunche received a cable complaining that the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem had passed on a warning that the lives of U.N. observers were threatened and that it was necessary that they move about only under armed escort, confining themselves to the Y.M.C.A. building when not on duty.
Dr. Bunche, seeking further information, requested the interview with Shertok, who said he was not informed of this development. An exchange of cables to Haifa and Jerusalem then took place, and Dr. Bunche today told a press conference that the matter had been satisfactorily clarified.
U.N. ACTING MEDIATOR GIVES ESTIMATE ON ARMY REQUIRED FOR JERUSALEM
Addressing the press conference, the acting mediator said that the internationalization of Jerusalem would require an international army of 5,000 to 6,000 man. This revised an earlier U.N. estimate of 2,500. He said so large a force would be needed particularly in the beginning “to fill the vacuum between the Jews and Arabs,” to ensure the and of the fighting and to control the dissidents.
Asked what form of internationalization the late mediator visualized, Dr. Bunche replied that Bernadotte was thinking of a return to the framework of the November 29 General Assembly resolution calling for an international trusteeship for the city. When asked to answer questions concerning the amputation of the Negev from Israel, as envisaged in the Bernadotte report, Dr. Bunche said that that and all other questions raised by the report would be answered before the General Assembly and that he was opposed “to holding a rehearsal for the press.” He declared that he is in full accord with the Bernadotte plan.
Dr. Bunche disclosed that a note had been sent by the central truce supervisory board in Haifa to Cairo reiterating its earlier charge that the Egyptian Army was responsible for the death several weeks ago of two French U.N. Observers.
Although he met with Arab officials here today, Dr. Bunche said he is not attempting to mediate between the Jews and Arabs in Paris. Consultations with Arab and Israeli leaders here would serve the purpose of renewing contacts and exchanging views, he said, adding: “I will, of course, be ready to discuss any stage of the question with them at any time.”
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