Interior Minister Yosef Burg insisted today that the United States put no pressure on Israel during the round of autonomy talks in Alexandria between Israel, Egypt and the U.S. which ended last Thursday. Burg, who is chairman of the Israeli negotiating team, said he had no complaints about the conduct of President Carter’s envoy to the talks, Robert Strauss.
“It is not true that the Americans did not keep a low profile or that they exerted undue pressure in an objectionable manner,” Burg told reporters. “True, a man with Robert Strauss’ temperament might declare that he wants results fast but that is merely a style of speech and we are doing ourselves little good by exaggerating or inventing news,” he said.
Burg had some sharp words, however, for American Consular officials in Jerusalem who, he alleged, were conducting political talks with West Bank officials behind the back of the Israeli government. He was alluding to reports that West Bank mayors have been approached by U.S. Consular officials with requests to join the political process. Burg said that was “an objectionable activity.”
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.
