Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, emerging from a conference room well after midnight with Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, publicly rebuked Allon for spelling out details of the current round of negotiations on a second interim Sinai accord.
Kissinger, who left a few hours later for Alexandria for his third meeting with Egyptian President Sadat, spoke only in generalities to the crowd of newsmen who had waited past midnight for the latest round of U.S.-Israeli talks to end. Kissinger was careful to avoid details on new demarcation lines, buffer zone adjustments and related points.
But Allon responded in detail to questions as to the extent of the Egyptian advance into the United Nations Emergency Force-held buffer zone and Israeli-held territory on the eastern side of the buffer zone. Allon said Egyptian forces would move into the present buffer zone and to some extent southwards along the Suez Gulf. Kissinger, clearly annoyed, interrupted Allon and said, “I don’t feel I can share your views now.”
Allon quickly agreed that no details of the proposed territorial changes should be disclosed before signing of the new accord. He sought to correct himself but Kissinger again broke in to say that discussions on such matters must be kept secret. Allon perforce told the newsmen “we shall have an opportunity to discuss this problem in detail at a later stage.”
A still irritated Kissinger, asked as he arrived at his hotel about the proposed Sinai lines, replied. “I would not like to prevent others from speaking on every conceivable subject before the night is over” and went to his room.
UJA MISSION BRIEFED
The likely second accord was described last
Peres said that agreement on a new accord would still leave Israel with some severe problems, including terrorist activities and increased tension on Israel’s eastern and northern frontiers He said he preferred the proposed now interim agreement to any alternative, including a general agreement putting Israel back to its pre-Six-Day War borders.
Peres also said that the current negotiations were “at their peak,” adding: “We overcame many difficulties in these talks and there is hope that within the next few days we will achieve its conclusion, which will also deepen the friendly relations between the United States and Israel.”
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.
