Foreign Minister Abba Eban told the Knesset (Parliament) here today that the Israel Government will weigh the various subjects to be taken up at peace talks with the Arab states and work out a system of priorities based on what is best “for a peace-loving, progressive sovereign state that has a role in Jewish life and culture.” He said that some of the subjects are contradictory, but when peace talks appear imminent, the Government will reach a concensus on the relative importance of security, culture and economics in its talks with the Arabs.
The Foreign Minister, speaking at the opening of a debate on his Ministry’s budget, reiterated Israel’s insistence on direct talks with the Arabs leading to a peace treaty. Israel will not consider anything less, he said and added that it was up to the Arabs to show their willingness to make peace by sitting down to talks with Israel. Only an agreement by the two sides on new, permanent boundaries can resolve the current deadlock, he said.
(The Associated Press reported from Jerusalem today that Eban announced Israel’s agreement to “a form of negotiations” with the Arab states – a form used by the Arabs in the past and consistent with a precedent – which indicated that peace talks would be similar to the Israel-Arab armistice negotiations of 1949. The AP quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman to the effect that Israel has agreed to direct talks with the Arabs on condition that the U.N. envoy, Ambassador Gunnar Jarring, act as chairman. Jarring is known to favor Cyprus, where he maintains his headquarters, as the site for such talks.
(The Christian Science Monitor reported from Jerusalem today that Israel had consented to send representatives to Ambassador Jarring’s Cyprus headquarters and cited “more cooperative” Egyptian and Jordanian attitudes toward Mr. Jarring, The U.N. envoy who has shuttled between his headquarters the Israeli and Arab capitals, believes that one of his meetings with the parties concerned could be held usefully on Cyprus. He left open the question of whether Israel and Arab delegates would meet face to face there or would talk, at least in the first phase, through him as an intermediary, the Monitor said.
AMBASSADOR JARRING DUE AT UNITED NATIONS WEDNESDAY TO DISCUSS DEVELOPMENTS
(It was announced in the United Nations today that Ambassador Jarring will arrive there on Wednesday to confer with Secretary General U Thant. According to a U.N. spokesman Mr. Thant said his discussion with Dr. Jarring will cover “possible next stops and the prospects for entering upon a new stage in the discussions with the parties” to the Middle East dispute.
(Ambassador Josef Tekoah of Israel met with Mr. Thant this afternoon at the Secretary-General’s invitation. It is understood that Mr. Thant informed the envoy officially of Ambassador Jarring’s pending arrival for consultations on developments in the Middle East.)
In the course of his address to the Knesset, Mr. Eban noted that the Middle East has lost much of its former importance in world affairs. It is no longer a cross road of the colonial powers on their way to and from their overseas possessions, he said. He observed that even without political domination by the European powers, Middle East oil continues to flow to the West and alternative routes to the Suez Canal have been found, since Egypt closed the canal last June. These developments, according to Mr. Eban, mean that the Middle Eastern countries must shoulder the responsibility for their own fate and come to terms, without relying on the world powers to solve their problems.
Mr. Eban told the Knesset that there is no longer a shadow of a doubt that Nasser took his aggressive action against Israel just prior to last June’s war on the basis of rumors that he picked up from Soviet sources that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border. The Soviets are still inciting their Arab friends against Israel and they are so doing them a great disservice, Mr. Eban said.
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.
