Begin spurns bid to soothe feelings of Jerusalem Arabs

Press, 16 July 1980, Page 9

Begin spurns bid to soothe feelings of Jerusalem Arabs

NZPA-Reuter ' Cairo In a fresh burst of defiance on the status of Jerusalem, the Israeli Prime Minister (Mr Menachem Begin) said yesterday that Muslim flags could fly over the holy city only when Arab States set up embassies there and recognised Israel. Leaving hospital after recuperating from his latest heart attack, Mr Begin in effect disposed of suggestions that Muslim sensibilities might be soothed by allowing Arab flags to fly over holy Islamic sites. The Israeli leader told reporters: “If the 21 Arab States recognised Israel and Jerusalem as its capital, their flags could fly over their embassy buildings in the city.” The statement demonstrated heightened Israeli feeling over Jerusalem and the way it has emerged as a serious issue on the international scene. Earlier this week, Mr Begin dispatched from his hospital bed a sharp message on the subject to the British Foreign Minister (Lord Carrington). 1 Stung by Lord Carrington’s public' advice that Mr Begin should desist from

plans to move his office to Arab East Jerusalem, the Prime Minister replied that Jerusalem was a Jewish capital before the civilised world had heard of London.i The move, first announced in principle a year ago, was intended to underline Israel’s insistence that all Jerusalem, including the Arab section captured in 1967, will forever remain the capital of a Jewish State. The Prime Minister’s office has refused to confirm persistent reports that the transfer of his office to what is internationally regarded as Arab territory will take place within a few weeks. Israel Radio has quoted Government sources as saying that Mr Begin had notified the impending move to the United States and Egypt. Asked about this outside the hospital, Mr Begin declined to comment. ■ The main cause of foreign indignation has been a bill, now on its way through the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), legally enshrining *the Israeli hold on' East Jerusalem. It was this measure which prompted Egypt to suspend last May talks with Israel and the United States on autonomy for the Palestinians

of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The talks got off to a shaky start again this week in Cairo. Egyptian and Israeli officials spent three hours yesterday trying to agree on an agenda for talks on Palestinian autonomy but to virtually no avail. The leader of the Egyptian side told reporters after the session in Cairo that so far the two delegations had agreed on only one item out of about 30 for the agenda. The latest round in the negotiations began this week after a ■ two-month suspension over Israel’s designs on Jerusalem. The Egyptian President (Mr Anwar Sadat) apparently has doubts about Mr Begin’s sincerity in working towards a Middle East -peace settlement. “More than 90 per cent of the Israeli people want peace,” Mr Sadat said in an interview with “Reader’s Digest.” “But it appears that Mr Begin can’t bring himself to leave what he calls 'Judea and Samaria’ (the West Bank) because ... ‘it is biblical.’ “The Israeli people want peace. The. Government? I don’t know,” he said.