Lebanon has informed the representatives of the five big powers in Beirut that it seeks to renew the Mixed Armistice Commission with Israel, defunct since the 1967 war, Beirut radio reported this morning. Meanwhile, the Premier’s office denied flatly today a Time magazine report that Israeli and Soviet officials had met on the possibility of reestablishing diplomatic relations, ruptured during the same war.
The Mixed Armistice Commission was a United Nations-supervised body which dealt mostly with mutual complaints about armed incursions or other violations of the 1949 armistice. Israel holds that the armistice with Lebanon collapsed in 1967 when Lebanon declared war on Israel. That declaration, however, was not followed by Lebanese belligerence, and the two countries have no territorial claims against each other, although there have been physical clashes between Israeli soldiers and terrorists in Lebanon. But the war declaration violated the armistice and killed it, and any Israeli-Lebanese negotiations must now be conducted without UN intermediaries if they are held here.
DENY ISRAEL-USSR RELATIONS
In denying the Time report, the Premier’s office said the USSR has not initiated any moves toward a resumption of relations and no such meetings have taken place in Israel, Switzerland or anywhere else. Informed sources added that talks between Israeli and Soviet diplomats in recent years have resulted from unplanned meetings at cocktail parties and other functions and could not be described as “talks.”
In addition, the sources said, the meetings in Israel between Victor Louis, the Soviet Jewish journalist believed to be an unofficial Soviet representative, and delegates to the Congress of Soviet-Israeli friendship did not cover any practical political matters. Louis’ visit at that time, ostensibly for medical reasons, was viewed in some quarters as a move by Moscow toward renewing contacts with Israel. He came here on an official Soviet passport and met with Simcha Dinitz, Premier Golda Meir’s political secretary.
NO ISRAEL-JORDAN SETTLEMENT
A spokesman for Premier Golda Meir also denied reports of a political settlement between Israel and Jordan, but did not deny outright that meetings have taken place. The spokesman said the reports, emanating from Cairo, were being spread by Egypt to damage King Hussein’s image. The reports had said Hussein was waiting for an Egyptian-Israeli Suez Canal agreement before implementing a Jordanian-Israeli one.
Cairo claimed that Hussein had reached an agreement with Israel under which the latter would be entitled to set up a security belt of 27 settlements along the Jordan River; Jordan would get the West Bank back but would be allowed to send only police forces into the area, and Jordan would be allowed to raise its flag over the Moslem holy places in Jerusalem.
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.
