Monachem Beigin opened the 12th national convention of Herut at Kiryat Arba last night with proposals for a three-year armistice in the Middle East during which Israel would try to negotiate peace treaties with its Arab neighbors and for the creation of a “joint council of the Jewish people” that would involve Israeli and diaspora Jewry in a common effort “to defend the Jewish people and the Jewish State.”
The militant Herut leader who, as a member of the Likud opposition, is one of the harshest critics of the government’s foreign and domestic policies, delivered the opening address before an overflow crowd of 2500 in a large hall designated for an industrial project at Kiryat Arba. His remarks added little to Herut’s already well known views on Israel’s approach to peace.
The most controversial aspect of the Herut convention was its choice of its site which was considered deliberately provocative by leftist and doveish elements. Kiryat Arba is the Jewish settlement established about five years ago adjacent to the large Arab town of Hebron on the West Bank.
Local Arab leaders, headed by Hebron Mayor Mohammed Ali Al Jaabari had raised strong objections. Twenty left-wing demonstrators associated with the Moked faction, were arrested by Jerusalem police last night when they attempted to stop cars and buses carrying delegates to Kiryat Arba. Demonstrators also assembled outside the residence of President Ephraim Katzir in Rehavia to protest his attendance at the convention.
The President and other national leaders of all factions traditionally attend the opening of major party conventions as a matter of courtesy. Katzir replied in effect to the protestors when he said in Kiryat Arba last night that it felt good for a Jew to return to a part of his country from which he had been expelled by force of arms. He was referring to the capture of Hebron by Jordan in 1948. This morning the convention moved to Tel Aviv to continue its deliberations.
ISRAEL SHOULD TAKE PEACE INITIATIVE
Beigin agreed that Israel should take the initiative for peace with its neighbors and stressed that negotiations must be conducted “on the premise of mutual recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the negotiating partners.” He said peace talks could be held in Jerusalem, in any Arab capital or in a neutral country and that each side was entitled to bring its proposals to the negotiating table.
Beigin did not mention Herut’s familiar stand that “not an inch” of the territory captured by Israel in the Six-Day War should be returned to the Arabs. But he linked a settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem with compensation for Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
URGES COUNCIL OF WORLD JEWRY
Addressing himself to world Jewry, the Herut leader said his proposed joint council would not replace existing bodies such as the World Zionist Organization, the World Jewish Congress and local Zionist federations. He proposed a 60-member body, half Israeli chosen by the Knesset, and half from the diaspora. He said the body would deal with “concrete” issues such as Soviet immigration, the rescue of Syrian Jews, assimilation problems, the self-defense of Jews everywhere, and the protection of the Jewish State. He demanded that Jews everywhere counter Arab designs to destroy Israel.
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