Claude de Boissanger, chairman of the U.N. Palestine Conciliation Commission, left this morning for Cairo to discuss his new proposals for Arab-Israel peace with leading members of the Arab League, Prior to his departure, he met here with Premier David Ben Gurion and Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett.
Following the meeting, the Israel Foreign Minister told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “The discussion is still inconclusive. We reiterated our willingness for peace, but it is for the Arabs to say whether they want peace. The members of the Concilation Commission, however, were unable to give any reply to this question.”
M. de Boissanger told the J.T.A.: “I found much understanding with the Israel Government for our proposals as well as appreciation for the efforts made by the Conciliation Commission to reach a solution of the Palestine problem.”
Press reports from Cairo that the Arab League has not finally closed the door to the new peace proposals of the Conciliation Commission have encouraged members of the Commission prior to their leaving this morning for Cairo. The reports said that the member states of the Arab League will agree to the plan of the U.N. Conciliation Commission for discussing a final Palestine settlement providing that Israel accepts the 1947 partition resolution as a basis of discussions.
ISRAEL DOUBTS ARAB DESIRE FOR PEACE; SAYS ARABS PLAN “WAR OF REVENGE”
The sentiment of the Israel Government with regard to this proposal by the Arab League is indicated in a statement submitted to the Conciliation Commission, which reads: “Israel hardly perceives in the League’s resolution a genuine desire for peace because it expressly rejects direct negotiations, setting as a prior condition the acceptance of the U.N. 1947 partition resolution which the Arab states fought and which, as a result of the war provoked by them, ceased to be a realistic basis for territorial settlement between Israel and its neighbors.”
The memorandum goes on to say that the ostracism and isolationism of the Arab states were displayed in their rejection of direct contact with Israel, even under the suspices of the U.N. Conciliation Commission. Even on the problem of the refugees, the memorandum points out, the Arabs “denied cooperation for settlement of the question.
“The hand outstretched from Israel,” the memorandum says, “was not grasped and could not be held out indefinitely.” The “astonishing territorial claims submitted by the Arabs provoked a deadlock within the Conciliation Commission,” it asserts. It emphasizes that “the Israel Government has authentic information at its disposal that a war of revenge against Israel is the plan exercising certain minds at the very summit of political power in the Arab world.”
“The time has come for the Arab states to unequivocally declare where they stand, so the Commission can proclaim where the responsibility lies, if direct negotiations for a final settlement of all outstanding questions do not begin now,” the Israel statement says.
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