Mrs. Meir Warns War May Be Resumed; Efforts Continue to Break Deadlock

Premier Golda Meir warned last night that war may be resumed at any moment as senior Israeli and Egyptian officers met in a final effort to break the impasse that has developed over the clause in the six-point cease-fire agreement calling for a “disengagement of forces” on the Egyptian front. Gen. Aharon Yariv, the chief Israeli negotiator and his Egyptian counterpart. Gen. Mohammed Gemassi, met for five hours at the kilometer 101 checkpoint on the Suez-Cairo road. There was no announcement except that the two negotiators will meet again tomorrow. Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo, of Finland, commander of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) said the talks were constructive.

Mrs. Meir, addressing a plenary meeting of the World Zionist Executive in Jerusalem, said that Egypt and Syria were threatening to resume hostilities and Israel must be prepared for that eventuality. The Russians have replaced all of the equipment the Egyptians and Syrians lost in the Yom Kippur War and “they do not count their casualties,” she said. Premier Meir’s warning followed reports that the Egyptian Army has completed its deployment facing Israeli lines on the west bank of the Suez Canal. Military experts in Israel said the Egyptian deployment could be transformed from a defensive to an offensive line in several hours. Usually well informed sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last night that Yariv was proposing variations–approved by the Cabinet–to a new Israeli proposal for a mutual pullback of forces which the Egyptians have rejected.

The original plan called for withdrawal by Israeli and Egyptian forces to a depth of ten kilometers from the banks of the canal with a United Nations force interposed between the two sides. What the variations might be is unknown and no one in Jerusalem would speculate on their nature last night. The Egyptians have insisted on an Israeli return to the positions occupied at the time of the Oct. 22 cease-fire. According to the Egyptian map, which the Israelis refuse to accept as valid, this means abandonment by Israel of its salient west of the waterway thereby lifting the encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army and the town of Suez.

The latest deployment of Egyptian forces reportedly consists of elements of the Third Army that did not cross the canal and units of the Egyptian First Army that have been moved to the Suez front from defensive positions near Cairo. Israeli military sources said the Egyptian line consists of new tanks received from Russia to replace those knocked out by Israel. SAM surface-to-air missiles have also been moved to the front from Cairo to provide an umbrella of protection for the First Army. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Second Army which holds positions on the east bank of the canal north of Ismailia has also been bolstered by new anti-aircraft missiles replacing those destroyed by Israel prior to the cease-fire.

Despite these ominous signs, other aspects of the cease-fire agreement were working well. The POW exchange with Egypt was completed yesterday when the last 14 Israeli prisoners were returned on a chartered Red Cross plane that landed at Lod Airport shortly before noon. The returnees were greeted by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff David Elazar. Dayan said that if more Israelis were to fall into Egyptian hands the exchange procedure would be a quick one.

Dayan accompanied Premier Meir on a visit yesterday to Israeli forces still encamped inside Syria and on the Golan Heights. Mrs. Meir told the soldiers that, on the one hand, Israelis must not take the line that “It is we that decide whatever we like and that the whole world is of no interest to us.” On the other hand, she said, “We must not follow the line that we are a small nation” and helpless. Either line is dangerous, she warned. “We must strive for peace but there must be a limit to what we can give up. It is dangerous to lie to ourselves and it is dangerous to agree to something that is not peace but just another period during which the enemy will prepare for another onslaught,” Mrs. Meir said.

Dayan, meeting with settlers in the Golan Heights, also spoke of facing reality. He said the Syrians have not given up hope of recapturing the Heights. “I do not think they will sign a peace treaty leaving the Golan in our hands. But I hope that we shall never sign a peace settlement that leaves the Golan in Syrian hands,” he said. As to the prospects of a POW exchange with Syria, Dayan said that Red Cross representatives have expressed the hope that the Syrian attitude might soften now that the exchange with Egypt is completed.