Israeli Delegate at Lausanne Parley Reports to President Weizmann on Progress of Talks

The period of dramatic developments in the negotiations of the United Nations Conciliation Commission on Palestine with the Israelis and Arabs came to an end during the week-end. The phase of hard and detailed bargaining has now begun.

For at least a week, if not two, no further major developments are expected. The energetic Paul Porter, chief of the United States delegates on the Commission, continued his “softening up” processing of the Arab delegations all of Saturday and Sunday. He endeavored to impress on all four delegations–first collectively and then separately–that this was their last opportunity to reach a settlement and that their rejection of Israel’s proposals would under no circumstances lead to a better offer.

The United States “squeeze” on Israel, while still proceeding, has eased considerably in view of the Israeli delegation’s hardening attitude. Perhaps decisive in convincing the Americans that the Israeli Government means this to be the last word was the week-end conference between Reuven Shiloah, the chief of the Israeli delegation, and Israeli President Chaim Weizmann at Burgemstock, near Lucerne, where the President is undergoing treatment for an eye disorder.

Following Mr. Shiloah’s report to Dr. Weizmann, the Israeli President invited Mr. Porter to visit him early this week when, it is understood, the President will add his weight to convince the Americans that Israel has gone to the limit of its concessions.

UNITED STATES IS REPORTED WATCHING WHETHER ISRAEL IS COLONIZING NEGEV

But the Arab refugee question is no longer the main issue. The Conciliation Commission was virtually agreed that the main question should be framed differently in the future. Its emphasis is no longer how many additional Arabs Israel will admit, but what is the total Arab population which Israel is willing to accept. The Commission now considers that 250,000 is a reasonable maximum, and increasing attention is accordingly focussed on territorial settlement.

The Americans are watching closely to determine to what extent Israel is really colonizing the Negev, particularly the Aqaba Gulf region. The American view is that if there is no real indication of settlement there the area may be less important to Israel than the Israelis claim.

But so far there has been no direct proposal on Israel’s future frontiers. The Arabs have not stated their views and this is now causing considerable embarrassment among the Arab delegations. King Abdullah of Transjordan has given instructions to his Lausanne delegation that it must not agree to the cession of any Palestine territory to Egypt while Egypt claims Gaza and parts of the southern Negev as its “security zone.”

Transjordan has also rejected what its delegation describes as the “French approach”–to place western Galilee under Lebanese trusteeship and to include Nazareth in this area. This would be used for resettlement of some of the Arab refugees–particularly Christian Arabs. According to one source, the French suggestion was made on grounds that this would emphasize the Christian character of Lebanon and create an additional factor in maintaining the balance of power in the Middle East.