Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
Vol. XLIII
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry - Est*l-‘ l: *^ 0 \
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, July 26, 1968
U.S., Israeli Talks on Mideast
Are Pleasant but Inconclusive
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Exten
sive talks between a group of
United States diplomats and Is
raeli officials ended here with ex
pressions of satisfaction on both
sides but little hard information
on whether differences on Middle
East policy had been narrowed.
George Ball, the new United
States ambassador to the United
Nartkms, told newsmen that “1
did not come here with any plans
for a settlement.” He added that
“what we wanted was to have a
complete exchange of views and
this is what we had.”
The talks reportedly were
“frank and open-hearted,” the
expression used by President
Johnson to a latter to Premier
Eshkol brought by Ball, who said
on several occasions here that the
Johnson Administration firmly
believed that a Middle East solu
tion must come from the govern
ments and peoples of the re
gion.
The visiting group included As
sistant Secretary of State Joseph
Sisco and Alfred Atherton, chief
of the State Department’s Arab-
Israel desk. The three Americans
met with the Premier, Foreign
Minister Abba Eban, Deputy
Prime Minister Yigal Allon and
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
Israeli officials indicated a be
lief that the Americans received
a clear view of Israeli positions,
particularly on the rapid rebuild
ing of the Arab war machines by
the Soviet Union. It was known
that the discussions included Is
rael’s six-month-old request for
50 F-4 Phantom jet fighter-bom
bers to match the modem planes
supplied by Russia to Egypt and
Syria.
It was also reported that the
United Spates agreed that Egypt
was the main barrier to a Middle
East settlement and that the
American diplomats agreed with
the Israeli leaders that
President Nasser’s adherence
the Khartoum conference form
ula of no Arab negotiations, rec
ognition or peace with Israel was
rigid. They hinted that Jordan
might be less so.
Reportedly, the Americans
sought to induce the Israelis to
relax their insistence on direct
peace talks with the Arabs.
Five Arab Gu
ElAl Plane; Lhnd at Algiers
„ „ No - 3 °
. ijack
Digest Reports Kosygin
Hot Line” Pressure on LBJ
66
NEW YORK (JTA)—The So
viet Union tried to pressure Pres
ident Johnson to take action to
halt Israeli advances during the
1967 Six-Day War, even indicat
ing it was prepared to risk nu
clear war, according to an article
in the Reader’s Digest on the use
of the Moecow-Washington tele
type hot line during the Arab-
Isnael war.
The hot line was used five
times during the wax in what
the magazine, in a copyrighted
article, said was a “war of nerves
and of wills” waged by Presi
dent Johnson and Soviet Premier
Dayan Proposes
Jobs for Arabs
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Defense
Minister Gen. Moshe Dayan re
cently suggested in Nablus that,
“on the assumption that there
will be no political changes In
the near future,” West Bank
workers should seek employment
in Israel instead of going abroad
for Jobs.
Gen. Dayan made the sugges
tion to Mayor Hamdi Cannaan,
of Nablus, in connection with
Arab requests that Israel stop
stamping the passports of Arabs
entering the West Bank from
other Arab countries. Gen. Dayan
said that be thought about 1,000
Nablus workers could be absorb
ed daily by the labor market in
Natanya.
Israel Rejects
Egyptian Charge
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y.
(JTA) — Israel has rejected an
Egyptian charge here that Israel
was responsible for initiating fire
in the Port Suez area of the Suez
Canal July 8 and said that peace
could be advanced only If Cairo
rejects the Arab policy adopted
last August at Khartoum.
In a letter to Tewflk Bouat-
toura, the Algerian Ambassador
to the United Nations who is this
month’s Security Council presi
dent, Israel’s Ambassador Yosef
Tekoah contended that a study of
the UN truoe observers’ report
placed responsibility for the In
cident “and its escalation” on
Egypt.
Alexei N. Kosygin. The article,
“Countdown in the Holy Land,”
based on Interviews with parti
cipants in the teletype confron
tation, was written by Reader’s
Digest roving editor, Lester Velie.
Premier Kosygin used the hat
line “for the first time in anger”
on Tuesday, June 6, the second
day of the war, the article said.
In that call Mr. Kosygin demand
ed that President Johnson per
suade the Israelis to stop their
advance in the Sinai Desert and
withdraw, hinting that otherwise
the Soviet Union would inter
vene.
The President’s answer was
that the United States would not
unilaterally act and the matter
should be referred to the United
Nations. Premier Kosygin called
again that day and, ignoring the
President’s preference for UN
action, again demanded that the
United States force the Israelis
to withdraw.
Mr. Kosygin’s message, the
magazine said, indicated that “the
Soviets would have to make per
ilous decisions . . . with dire con
sequences.” “It was clear,” the
article said, “the Russians were
coming as dose as they could to
saying that they were prepared
to risk nuclear war.”
President Johnson’s second re
ply to Mr. Kosygin was the same
as the firet, the article said, and
no more transmissions were made
until June 10, the last day of the
war.
Premier Kosygin called three
times on June 10 to demand the
U. S. act Immediately to halt the
Israeli advance (now being made
into Syria.) President Johnson
answered that he could exercise
no more control over the Israelis
than the Russians could over the
Arabs, the Reader’s Digest article
said. The article said after Pre
mier Kosygin’s third call, Pres
ident Johnson sent units of the
Sixth Fleet toward the Syrian
coast.
Malben Opens Center
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Israel’s first
health, counseling and guidance
center for the aged has been
opened in Jerusalem by Matoen,
the agency ministering to the
needs of ill, health, aged and
handicapped immigrants.
ALGIERS — Five Arabs, em
ploying rough commando tactics
bolstered by hand grenades and
a pistol, seized an Israeli plane
in the air last Tuesday, forcing
the jetliner pilot to fly his craft
and 46 persons aboard Into Al
giers’ Dar El Be Ida airport
The hijackers apparently felt
secure in their knowledge that
the Algerian government Is tech
nically still at war wiith Israel
and, in some quarters, consider
ed one of the bitterest enemies
Eshkol, Dayan,
rence to Bar-Lev Tour
Sinai Region
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Premier
Levi Eshkol toured Israeli mili
tary positions throughout the Si
nai Peninsula and along .the Suez
Canal and later expressed opti
mism that any military action
there by Egypt would fail.
The Premier inspected the
living and working conditions of
the Armed Forces by helicopter
and military vehicle along with
Defense Minister Gen. Moshe
Dayan, Chief of Staff Chaim Bar-
Lev, and Brig. Gen. Yeshayahu
Gavish, commander of the sou-
thfqr> ^
Among the places visited were
the Mitla pass, where Egyptian
armor was devastated during the
Six-Day War; Port Tewflk, over
looking Port Ibrahim on the
Egyptian side of the canal; and
the Great Bitter Lake, where 15
ships have been blocked since
Egypt closed the canal during the
war. He also toured the sites of
other routes that Israel’s Armed
Forces took during the war and
the sites of several clashes.
Summing up his impressions of
Mitla, Mr. Eshkol said he still
felt “the fear of the collapsed
Egyptian war machine whose
remnants and embers are still
scattered there, and the fear of
the Egyptian soldier who went to
war at (Nasser’s) command and,
at the end, fled to save his life.”
of the Jewish Staite.
The aerial pirates had request
ed Algeria to hold the plane and
its Israeli passengers end crew
for ransom.
The Algerian government flew
33 of the 36 passengers to Paris
abroad an Algerian plane. Re
maining in Algiers were three
passengers, the 10-member crew
and the plane.
The jetliner, an El Al Airline
Boeing 707 bound for Tel Aviv,
was an hour out of Pome when
the attack by the hijackers came,
as the five Arabs crowded Into
the cockpit and ordered the craft
diverted to Algiers. The pilot
was identified by El Al as Capt.
Oded Abarbanel.
It was reported that at least
one American was on the pas
senger list
Algerian authorities reported
that one of the piratical Arabs
took command of the plane’s
radio during the flitfit and an
nounced to the Algiers airport
“We are Palestinians and bare
seized the ship and christened it
‘Liberation of Palestine*.”
The Popular Front for the Lib
eration of Palestine (PFLP) an
nounced from Beirut that it, an
Arab guerrilla organization, was
behind the seizure. A spokesman
for the Algerian government said
one of the commandos was a
Syrian air force officer.
A communique from PFLP ask
ed the Algerian authorities to
to take over “the ptene, Its Is
raeli crew and passengers as hos
tages for prisoners and arrested
Palestinian commandos” now
being held in Israel.
Leaders Focus On Peace
And How To Achieve It
Israeli Press
Appraises
Zionist Congress
TEL AVIV (WUP)—“The Zion
ist Congress opened with a crisis
and ended with a crisis,” Israel’s
Leftist dally AI Hamishmar com
mented editorially. “The much-
hoped-for change has not yet
come ... Dr. Goldmann has not
been re-elected and thus the
Zionist Organization is left with
out a president. The elected Exec
utive also shows signs of a rift.”
Ha’aretz, the independent daily,
declared that “the Zionist Con
gress failed to bring about the
hoped-for awakening in the World
Zionist Movement . . . The Move
ment is unable to renew itself, its
only capacity is to keep going its
old way.”
Hayorn was more optimistic. It
stated that “this Zionist Congress
can be credited with a number of
organizational, personal and ideoa,
logical changes . . . From now on
a smaller, more compact Execu
tive will act . . . Dr. Goldmann’s
departure from the leadership is
also a noteworthy achieve
ment ...”
The National Religious Party’s
Hatzophe held that ‘'the Zionist
Executive is now nothing else but
a branch office of the Labor Par
ty.”
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Peace —
and how to achieve it—were the
themes of speeches by three Is
raeli Government officials over
last weekend.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban
said in a radio interview that dif
ferences between the United
States and Israel over the meth
od by which peace with the Arabs
should be reached were more ap
parent than real. Mr. Eban told
the Cabinet that there was a wide
range of understanding between
the U. S. and Israel on ways
and means to settle the conflict.
Speaking at a Haifa labor ral
ly, Defense Minister Gen. Moshe
Dayan said that “today more than
ever, the way to peace is in
standing fast.” Israel was closer
to a settlement with the Arabs,
both In neighboring countries
and within present borders, today
than ever before, he declared.
Information Minister Israel Ge-
Botanical Garden
To Be Established
JERUSALEM (JTA)— A 400-
acre botanical garden will be es
tablished by the Jewish National
Fund. It will contain all the
plants mentioned in the Bible
and the flora growing In Israel
today. The garden will be lo
cated in the Modiim area near
Lydda.
It will be established under the
supervision of Noga Hareuveni,
a Biblical scholar and horticultur
ist. The area will be designated
a nature preserve and national
park.
Biafrans Receive
First Israeli Aid
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Israel sent
last week five tons of food and
medical supplies to Biafra, the
besieged eastern province of Ni
geria where thousands of civilians
are reported to be suffering from
starvation and disease. The aid
cargo was flown by an El Al
plane to Geneva where It was
turned over to the International
Red Cross.
X-ray equipment, antibiotics,
bandages and stretchers were
gifts from Israel but moat of the
food represented a donation by
the Argentine Embassy here. The
Argentinians turned over two and
a half tons of flour to the Mogen
David Adorn, Israel’s national
Red Cross. The flour is used to
bake a variety of bread that is
popular In Argentina.
till, in a speech in Tiberias to
hundreds of new recruits in Nahal
para-military units, declared that,
“It is time Arab rulers under
stand theft time is not working
in their favor. Israel of tomor
row will not be softer or weaker
than In the peat. It
Arabs’ position that there can ba
no negotiations, no place end no
navigation In the Suez Canal in
dicates that the war is not yet
over, he declared.
Mr. Eban told the nation that
in his conferences last week with
George Ball, the new United
States Ambassador to the United
Nations, and Mr. Ball’s delega
tion, it was established that the
U. S. did not believe in any per
manent solution that was not
based on a treaty signed directly
between the Arabs and Israel.
Ibr Americans, Mr. Eban said,
did not concur with Israel In her
insistence that any matter at sub
stance must be discussed only in
direct talks with the Arabs from
the start. Israeli oflftriala took the
position that thts was the only
way to find out if there was any
real wish for peace on the part
of the Arab countries.
Gen. Dayan said that Israel
must have plans lor peace but
must be ready to carry on with
out peace until it was reached.
“If we insist this time on flan
and binding terms on the norm
alization of relations, then we
shall eventually achieve real
peace,” he asserted,
67 Nations Talk
UNITED NATIONS (JTA) —
Israel is one of 67 nations that
have accepted invitations to par
ticipate in a United Nations con
ference on the exploration and
peaceful use of outer space which
will be held in Vienna from Aug.
14 to 27. The objectives of the
conference are the examination of
practical benefits to be derivad
from space research and explora
tions and of the opportunities
available to non-spaice powers for
international cooperation-in space
activities.
Bonn Loans $35 Million
BONN (JTA )—West Germany
will loan Israel 140 million marks
($35 million) on the seme terms
as last year’s loan of 160 n-iUHrvn
marks ($40 million) It was an
nounced here.