Israeli Minister proposes Arab State in Gaza

Press, 18 September 1976, Page 6

Israeli Minister proposes Arab State in Gaza

The Israeli Foreign Minister (Mr Yigal Allon) has proposed a significant withdrawal by Israel from Arab territory occupied in the 1967 war and creation of demilitarised zones on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as part of a joint Palestinian - Jordanian state.

In an article published in the latest issue of “Foreign Affairs” magazine in New York, Mr Allon said Israel was willing to make territorial concessions so long as they provided for borders with an “essential minimum of strategic depth” which would permit Israel a margin of security against invading armies. Although he said the precise boundaries must be fixed by negotiations with the Arab States, Mr Alton's article included a map giving the general outlines of an Israeli withdrawal.

The map included two ellipses on the West Bank of the Jordan, covering roughly the mountainous areas of Samaria and Judea, but excluding Jerusalem. A corridor would link the two areas with the East Bank of the Jordan at Jericho. Israel would remain in control of the arid regions immediately west of the Jordan River.

Gaza City would also be under Arab control, but not the entire Gaza Strip. Rather than being returned to Egyptian control, Gaza would be part of a joint Palestinian-

Jordanian entity and would have guaranteed road links to the rest of the proposed region so that it could serve as a Mediterranean port. This road access would not be a corridor, however. ■

, In Sinai, Mr Alton’s proposed demarcation line runs from a point north of El Arish but south of Abu Aweigila Kusseima and Kuntilla. This would provide Israeli control over Sharm-el-Sheikh in order to prevent the possibility of any repeat blockade by Egypt of the Tiran Straits, between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.

On the Golan Heights, the proposed border would run just west of the 1967 ceasefire lines, an area which Mr Alton describes as vital to protect Galilee from shelling or invasion.

Mr Allon says Israel has no desire to incorporate a large Arab population into its permanent territory, but only seeks borders that would enable its army to hold back any Arab invaders til] civilian reserves could be mobilised.