The State Department had no comment today on the decision by the Israeli Cabinet yesterday to authorize the United States to begin talks with Egypt, Syria and Jordan about the possibility of a non-belligerency agreement with Israel. Department spokesman John Trattner said the U.S. has not received the “full text” of the Israeli decision and “we look forward to seeing more of the Israeli Cabinet position.”
The Israeli decision was reportedly made on the request of the Ford Administration to Premier Yitzhak Rabin during his visit to Washington last month. Trattner said that since Rabin’s visit the U.S. has been in consultation with all the governments involved in the Israeli-Arab conflict on procedures for the next step toward a Middle East peace. Since the consultations are now in diplomatic channels, Trattner said, he was not at liberty to discuss them.
Trattner volunteered that the U.S. began yesterday its official operations of the early warning systems in the Mitle and Gidi passes in the Sinai. He pointed out that the U.S. participation was at the request of Israel and Egypt as part of the Sinai agreement they signed last September.
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