The national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America concluded a two-day meeting here last night with the adoption of a statement urging President Carter not to pressure Israel to accept a “PLO state.” The resolution was also highly critical of remarks mode in Israel by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance.
The statement issued by ZOA president Ivan J. Novick and executive committee chairman Alleck A. Resnick, called on Carter to make it clear” Israel will not be pressured to accept a PLO state, now or in the future. “Referring to Vance’s remarks in Beersheba Friday, the ZOA said the Administration “directly and by implication” had invited the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in the negotiations Organization to participate in the negotiations on autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It called the remarks “ill conceived, unwarranted and a counterproductive intrusion . . . that could severely jeopardize the peace process.”
At the closing banquet, Rep. Philip Crane (R. Ill.), a candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, promised the ZOA he would back a plank in the 1980 Republican platform urging the transfer of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. At the opening meeting Saturday night, Rep. Christopher Dodd (D.Conn.) was critical of the role being played by Saudi, Arabia in the Middle East and noted that Congress had been assured that when if sold the Saudis F-15 jets last year it would serve to have a moderating affect. “However, the Saudis have been troublemakers in the Middle East and are supporting the countries which are opposed to the Israel-Egypt peace talks.”
Dodd is being mentioned as a candidate for the seat of Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D. Conn.) who is not seeking re-election next year. Ribicoff was one of the leaders in the Senate who pushed for providing the planes to Saudi Arabia. Nahum Shamir. the Israeli Consul General in Chicago, gave greetings to the executive committee at the opening session as did Ira D. Schultz, president of the Chicago region of the ZOA.
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