British-Israel Relations: Report on Jarring Peace Talks

Report on Jarring Peace Talks

CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at
10 Downing Street, S.W.1, on Tuesday, 16 February, 1971,
at 11 a.m.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary said that there had been important developments arising from the initiative of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Dr. Jarring, in sending notes to the Governments of Israel and the United Arab Republic (UAR). In these messages Dr. Jarring had clearly identified the two points which lay at the heart of the dispute in that he had asked the Government of the UAR to say clearly that they would make peace with Israel and had invited the Government of Israel to give more precision to their interpretation of the concept of “withdrawal.” News had just been received that the UAR had replied affirmatively, agreeing inter alia that peace meant a termination of the state of belligerency and all its consequences. The Israeli Government were still maintaining that Dr. Jarring's latest initiative had exceeded his terms of reference. But now that the Government of the UAR had been induced to agree to concentrate on the settlement of the dispute and not to set themselves up as the champion of the cause of all the Arabs, it might be easier for Dr. Jarring to secure Israeli co-operation. This could mark the beginning of a more hopeful stage in the search for a settlement of the Arab/Israel dispute. 

 

Sources:British Archives: CAB/128/49/10