Defense Minister Ezer Weizman has instructed the military government of the West Bank to allow maximum autonomy to local Arab authorities and to treat them with patience and understanding. He laid down his policy at the annual meeting of the military governors and their aides. He was accompanied by Chief of Staff Gen. Mordechai Gur.
Both officials said the Israeli military should adopt a liberal stance toward the Arab population in the Judaea and Samaria regions and that the Arab mayors there should be allowed to raise funds for their localities. Weizman stressed that it was important for the Israeli authorities to refrain as much as possible from interfering in the daily lives of the West Bank Arabs.
Weizman also said that the government will decide when and where Jewish settlements will be established in those territories, adding that there would be no more confusion on that question. Gur observed that the task of the military government was vital to the security of Israel.
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