Israeli withdrawal line considered

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32542, 27 February 1971, Page 17

Israeli withdrawal line considered

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

JERUSALEM, February 26.

A special Israeli Government committee working on contingency planning has drawn up a “red line,” which military strategists feel should be the limit of any withdrawal from occupied Arab territory, according to well-informed sources in Jerusalem.

No decision has yet been reached by the Israeli Cabinet on any level of withdrawal.

The sources say that the proposed "red line” is believed to exclude from any Israeli withdrawal Sharm ElSheik, at the . entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba; a narrow strip of Sinai leading to it; an. area around Jerusalem; and a significant section of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

They add that, at present, Ecial attention is being en to the drawing of the : in Sinai in view of the present stage of the peace talks between Israel and

Egypt, under the auspices of toe United Nations envoy, Dr Gunnar Jarring. Egypt has offered to reach a peace agreement with Israel in return for total Israeli withdrawal; Israel maintains that there can be no return to the armistice lines existing before the Six-day War of June, 1967.

The sources say that the “red line” represents the final strategic limit in a series of contingency plans for maximum and minimum withdrawals from Arab territory in the event of a peace agreement being signed. The office of the Prime Minister (Mrs Meir) last night confirmed for the first time the existence of special committees within the Government working on various aspects of peace settlements with neighbouring Arab countries. It said that the committees had been preparing background material, investigating problems and putting forward ideas and suggestions for eventual submission to the Cabinet. Mrs Meir’s office declined to elaborate further, but there have been several recent

newspaper articles on the question of map-drawing. The independent newspaper “Haaretz” said yesterday that although she had received the various maps, Mrs Meir felt that the time was still not ripe to produce them. It said that Israel’s official reply to Egypt’s peace offer, to be delivered through Dr Jarring by the end of the week, would concentrate on the details of peace instead of drawing maps. Mrs Meir was said to feel that there was no need to produce the maps yet, as the United States already knew what Israel was prepared to give up—she herself had explained this to President Nixon during her visit to Washington last year.