State Dept. Criticizes Israel’s Security Crackdown

The State Department on Monday criticized Israel’s new security crackdown in the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip and urged Jerusalem to cancel its plans to revive deportation and detention without trial of Arabs accused of terrorism.

Department spokesman Bernard Kalb coupled his attack on the measures, announced Sunday by the Israeli Cabinet, with praise of Jordan’s King Hussein, who he said is “working hard to establish a process” that would lead to a negotiated settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Kalb said the United States hopes that an Arab summit meeting, scheduled this week in Casablanca, Morocco, will endorse Hussein’s agreement with Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization to pursue a joint strategy toward Israel. (Story, Page 14.)(

“We deplore the recent acts of violence in Israel and the occupied territories, which have led the (Israeli) Cabinet to announce it may exercise these measures,” Kalb said.

“Nevertheless, we regret the Cabinet’s decision and hope that these measures will not be implemented,” he added. “As we have said in the past, we consider such measures as likely to foster further tension.”

Kalb’s criticism of the Israeli action was far sharper than comments made earlier Monday by Deputy White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes, who issued a general denunciation of violence but declined to comment on the specifics of the Israeli action.

“Violence in this area serves no one’s interests, be it directed against Jordanians, Palestinians or Israelis, nor does violence serve the broader peace process,” Speakes said. “We have seen examples of violence against all these parties.”

When asked if the statement was linked to the Israeli Cabinet’s action, Speakes said it was not. By including attacks on Jordanians and Palestinians in the denunciation of violence, he clearly intended to go beyond the Israeli Cabinet’s action, taken under military regulations that apply only to Arabs in the occupied territories. Israeli Jews living in West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements are subject to Israeli civil law.