Reserves Gen. Aharon Yariv described a peace map today in which Israel would retain strategic parts of Arab territory but with substantial concessions to the Arabs. He said this was the map he would like to see but would not say whether he thought it was the map Israel will get ultimately if and when there is a peace settlement. Yariv, who was Israel’s chief negotiator at the Kilometer 101 cease-fire talks before resigning from active duty to run for the Knesset, spoke here to an organization of working mothers.
He expressed doubt that the Geneva conference could bring the desired peace. However, he said he would be satisfied if the talks simply opened a new era, in Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbors which would improve the chance for peace at a later stage, Yariv said that Israel could not give up all of Sinai “We must retain a certain part that will include Sharm el-Sheikh so that we can assure our navigation and oil routes,”he said, As for the West Bank-Judaea and Samaria he said there was room for only two states between the sea and the desert-Israel and an Arab state. Whether the latter is called Jordan or Palestine is up to the Arabs, he said.
Yariv envisioned some forme of Arab sovereignty on the West Bank but believed there would have to be an Israeli military presence on the banks of the Jordan River for some time to come He said that the Gaza Strip would have to remain in Israeli hands, though the Arabs might be given free port facilities there, “We cannot given up much of the Golan Heights, though in exchange for peace we could give up Kuneitra and a certain strip,” he said, Yariv stated that Jerusalem would have to remain an undivided city though he favored special arrangements for other religious communities, including municipal arrangements.
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.
