Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah met here today with United Nations Mideast emissary Gunnar Jarring. It was learned authoritatively that he planned to present Dr. Jarring with Israel’s response to last week’s Egyptian reply, delivered to Dr. Jarring on Jan. 18 and published on Jan. 20, to Israel’s initial peace proposals transmitted earlier this month to the UN mediator in Jerusalem. However, it was reported also that the Israeli envoy did not plan to give to Dr. Jarring, at the meeting today, Israel’s reaction to the Jordanian statement presented to the Swedish diplomat on Jan. 18 and released Monday. No statement or comment was issued at the end of the meeting today, in line with the “quiet diplomacy” approach of Dr. Jarring.
Tekoah met last night with Secretary General U Thant at the latter’s invitation but it was understood that the Jarring talks were not discussed. Israeli spokesmen refused comment on either the nature of the Israeli envoy’s presentation to Dr. Jarring or his conversation with the Secretary General. Another regular meeting of the ambassadors of the Big Four was scheduled for today but the envoys were, as usual in recent months, not expected to make any significant proposals about a Mideast settlement, in deference to the ongoing Jarring talks.
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.
