Eban Says Syria’s Election Could Lead to Change in Israel’s Relationship to Council

Foreign Minister Abba Eban told a press conference today that Israel would have to re-evaluate its relationship with the United Nations Security Council if Syria is elected a non-permanent member of that body and does not release the two Israeli hijack victims. Mr. Eban gave no indication of what Israel’s changed attitude toward the Council might be.

The Foreign Minister scoffed at wire service reports that the United States and the Soviet Union had reached an agreement in principle for a settlement of the Middle East dispute. Mr. Eban said the Associated Press report was based on “old information,” adding, “we have better information.” He said peace efforts were being blocked because Egypt is “nowhere near ready” to make peace with Israel.

Mr. Eban said that Israel could not consider the establishment of a third Palestinian state in the territory of the former British Mandate of Palestine. Replying to a reporter who observed that the UN’s 1947 partition plan envisioned the creation of an Arab state in Palestine, Mr. Eban said the Arabs themselves had rejected that notion. He noted that Palestinian Arab leaders regard themselves as part of a larger Arab nation–Jordan, whose population is half made up of people who consider themselves Palestinians but see no contradiction between that and being Jordanians.