The leader of Israel’s Moscow-oriented Communist Party said today that he was assured by Soviet Communist Party chief Leonid I, Brezhnev that Israel could have a political solution of the Middle East conflict and renewed diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union if it would abandon its present “stiff position” and “eliminate the causes” of the present tensions.
Meir Wilner spoke at a press conference on his return from Moscow where he attended the recent summit conference of world Communist Party leaders. He said his conversation with Mr. Brezhnev took place after Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko returned from his Cairo consultations with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Mr. Wilner said the Soviet leader made it clear that Russia wants a political settlement in the Middle East but that Israel would have to support a “realistic” peace agreement. In that event, Israel would emerge “profiting from all aspects,” Mr. Brezhnev said, according to Mr. Wilner. The Israeli Communist said he met Arab Communists in Moscow and found a “mutual understanding” with them. Israel’s other Communist faction boycotted the Moscow conference on grounds that it could not represent world Communist leadership as long as Soviet forces remained in Czechoslovakia.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
