State Department Declines to Say Why Eban Was Not Told of Plan on Jordan

A State Department spokesman declined today to explain why the Department had not informed Foreign Minister Abba Eban of Israel during last week’s meetings of the new United States proposals for a Jordanian-Israeli settlement. Spokesman Robert McCloskey was asked why the Department had not taken up the new plans with Israel when Mr. Eban met Secretary of State William P. Rogers last week. He said, “I have nothing further to say about that.”

Mr. McCloskey meanwhile disclosed that the Department believes U.S. relations with the Arab states are improving. He announced that Mauretania, a Moslem nation had just asked to resume diplomatic relations with Washington.

Mr. McCloskey was questioned about tensions that might have existed in the Eban-Rogers meeting last week. He replied that the meeting was officially described as “cordial” but added that this description still allows for differences of views.”

The spokesman declined to state whether there had been an erosion of U.S.-Israeli relations. He said that to answer that question would require him to speak also for the Israeli Government. As for Washington, he said, “the U.S. has presented fair and balanced proposals on the general problems of the Middle East.” He said that the state Department felt that it was not unusual that efforts “to become even-handed” would cause “criticism from one side or the other.” He suggested that the U.S. was not partisan as between Israel and the Arabs and had “no special axe to grind in the Middle East.”

Mr. McCloskey said he had “no substantive disagreement” with the substance of published reports that the U.S. had proposed a new plan for settling Israel-Jordanian difficulties. The details of that plan appeared today in The New York Times.

Correspondents accused the spokesman of failing to announce the meeting of Secretary Rogers and a delegation representing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. They suggested that they were kept unaware of the meeting which was not listed on the officially announced calendar. It was hinted that the Department sought to minimize publicity regarding the Jewish representations.

Mr. McCloskey, when questioned, confirmed that the Jewish leaders had seen the Secretary. He was also questioned about a meeting at the White House in which American business interests and oil companies had urged that Israel be pressured to withdraw from occupied territories because, they said, U.S. investments in Moslem states were jeopardized. He stated that the White House had confirmed that the meeting had taken place and indicated that similar contacts had been made by the same interests with the State Department.