Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said yesterday that even if a peace treaty was signed with Jordan, Israel should have the right to build Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Interviewed on CBS TV “Face The Nation.” Dayan said “To me the West Bank is part of the Jewish homeland. There is no difference between Tel Aviv, Hebron and Jericho.”
In response to questions, Dayan said that if peace is reached with Egypt much of the Sinai would be returned with Israel retaining the Sharm el-Sheikh and a coastal strip connecting that strong-point with Israel proper. For Israel’s security. he added, it is better to have an angry Egypt and an Israeli presence to protect the waterway to Eilat. Dayan rejected a United Nations presence at Sharm el-Sheikh to protect the waterway, even one that would not be withdrawn without US approval. In response to another question, Dayan said the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem will be retained by Israel.
Commenting on President Nixon’s forthcoming visit to Moscow in May, Dayan noted that if the US and USSR can reach an agreement on the Middle East that is acceptable to the Soviet Union, it might not be acceptable to Israel. But, Dayan added, he did not believe the US would try to force a Middle East peace treaty upon Israel. “There have been differences of opinion” between the US and Israel in the past and “there will be in the future,” he noted. “But the United States has not tried to force a peace treaty upon us in the past and we don’t believe they will try in the future.”
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.
