Mrs. Meir Says Her Statement That Jews Will Remain in Kfar Etzion is Cabinet’s View

Premier Golda Meir said today that her statement that Jews will remain forever at Kfar Etzion reflected the attitude of the Cabinet. Mrs. Meir was questioned in the Knesset on that remark which she made at a police officers graduation ceremony recently. She said that 18 months ago the Cabinet decided to renew the permanent settlement of Jews in the Etzion bloc, a group of settlements established on Jewish National Fund land south of Jerusalem, before Israel’s independence. The Etzion bloc was overrun by the Jordanian Arab Legion on May, 1948 and was occupied by Jordan until the June, 1967 Six-Day War. The Government established a new urban center to serve the Etzion settlements and plans to build 70 new housing units there this year.