U.s.-israel Relations Appear to Be Friendlier After Allon’s Visit

Comments by President Ford, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon have lifted formal Israel-U.S. relations, at least publicly, to somewhere near their normal friendliness after having plunged to their lowest point in 18 years. In a parting statement to the media at the close of his news conference Friday, Allon went out of his way to volunteer his confidence that “the American people will never go Munich” and implied that the American Jewish community should remain confident, too, in continuing U.S. support.

Noting his travels in the United States during the past week for the United Jewish Appeal, Allon said that because of the oil crisis and inflation “in many places, people are worried that the United States was going to deliver Israel to the Arabs.”

Continuing, he observed: “I don’t exclude the possibility that in the future we (Israel and the U.S.) may disagree, but even disagreements will be tackled in a friendly manner.” Some, Allon said, spoke of the “possibility of Munich” where British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938 agreed with Germany’s Hitler to an accord that led to the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. “I said to them,” Allon declared, “President Ford is not Chamberlain, and President (Anwar) Sadat (of Egypt), although he has expressed his hatred for Israel frequently, is not a Hitler, Israel is not Czechoslovakia. The American people will never go Munich.”

FORD SHOWS AFFECTION FOR ISRAEL

Ford appeared to make a particular point of affection for Israel when he mentioned to Allon while they were being photographed at the White House that he would like some day to see the Knesset in Jerusalem. “That will be a great day,” Allon replied fervently. The President went on to say, within easy earshot of the reporters crowded around their chairs, that he had planned several times to visit Israel but once Mrs. Ford became ill with pneumonia and on another occasion the Congress, when he was the

During this conversation, Kissinger quipped that whenever he goes to Israel he gets a demonstration. Some here said that Allon’s invitation to Kissinger to visit Israel was an attempt to give the Secretary the official welcome for officials of his station and erase previous anti-Kissinger attitudes in Israel. Kissinger himself described the talks during Allon’s three-day stay as “very friendly” and “very encouraging.” Ford was reported as saying he believed the step-by-step negotiating procedures were a “viable process.”

ALLON EXPRESSES OPTIMISM

Allon concluded three days of talks with highest U.S. officials Friday with personal notes of optimism over progress towards a Middle East settlement. “I am leaving the country with a good feeling,” he told the news conference.

“I have got the notion that Egypt may be ready to start talks on an interim agreement. Israel is ready to compromise on territory in return for a sound agreement that will help each side equally. I leave Washington today with the good feeling that these talks may subsequently lead to the more desirable phase of deciding the procedures, place and time for talks between ourselves and Egypt.”

Allon disclosed that Kissinger had accepted his invitation to visit Israel as soon as possible. State Department sources said that Kissinger accepted “in principle” but no time has been set and he would not go there until he felt certain that an agreement might be worked out with Egypt, and that he also would go at that time to Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Allon said that Kissinger’s visit “can serve as a turning point from the preliminary stage to the negotiating stage,” in current discussions. Indicating both in his attitude and in his words that he was encouraged by his talks with Ford, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Kissinger and Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger, Allon said that his three days here were “the most fruitful” in his year-old career as Foreign Minister.

His talks included bilateral topics which were “very vital to Israel” and he was “very satisfied,” he said. Soviet Jewry also was among the topics of “perpetual interest,” he added. “You can conclude from all this that the talks I had, had some satisfying results.” He cautioned that the conversations he had should be considered “talks rather than negotiations.” Allon denied any American pressure upon Israel to give up positions necessary for its defense.