ISRAEL'S NEW PRIME MINISTER, MRS GOLDA MEIR, HAS DECLARED SHE IS READY TO GO TO AMMAN FOR TALKS WITH KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN IN AN EFFORT TO BRING PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST.
MRS MEIR SPEAKING (SOF); NEWSMEN; MRS MEIR SPEAKING (SOF).
TRANSCRIPT: MRS MEIR: "DID I UNDERSTAND YOU TO SAY A FOUR-POWER RESOLUTION. (BACKGROUND VOICE). OH, A SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION. THAT WAS A SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION... NOW FOUR-POWER IS OUR... (BACKGROUND VOICE). WELL, SINCE THERE IS STILL NO PEACE IN THE AREA, I DON'T SEE THAT IT HAS HELPED VERY MUCH, BUT THE SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION WAS BASED ON SOMETHING WHICH ISRAEL HAS BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG IS THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT FOR A SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM, AND THAT IS THAT THE ARAB STATES MUST BE PREPARED TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH US AND TO COME TO A PEACE AGREEMENT. SINCE THEY WERE NOT PREPARED, UNTIL NOW THEY ARE NOT YET PREPARED. I HOPE THEY WILL BE IN THE FUTURE, LET US HOPE IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WHY THEN NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, NATURALLY.
"WELL, IT DEPENDS ENTIRELY UPON THE KING. AS FAR AS WE ARE CONCERNED, WE ARE WILLING TO MEET THE KING, THE PRESIDENT... (INDISTINCT)... FOR NEGOTIATIONS OR FOR TALKS THAT WILL LEAD TO NEGOTIATIONS. SO I DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN SAY THERE'S ANY DOUBT ON THE QUESTION ON WHETHER ISRAELIS, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, WILL BE PREPARED TO MEET HIM. WHEN HIS GRANDFATHER WAS PREPARED AND WE MET HIM. TWICE AS A MATTER OF FACT. IN 67, THE FALL OF 67 AND IN MAY OF 68. EXCUSE ME... ONLY A DIFFERENCE OF 20 YEARS... 47 AND 48, SO IF KING HUSSEIN IS PREPARED, CERTAINLY WE ARE.
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Background: ISRAEL'S NEW PRIME MINISTER, MRS GOLDA MEIR, HAS DECLARED SHE IS READY TO GO TO AMMAN FOR TALKS WITH KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN IN AN EFFORT TO BRING PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST. MRS MEIR WAS SPEAKING AT A NEWS CONFERENCE IN JERUSALEM ON TUESDAY (18 MARCH), THE DAY AFTER SHE WAS SWORN IN AS THE COUNTRY'S NEW LEADER.
MRS MEIR, A 70-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER, SAID SHE WAS PREPARED TO GO TO THE JORDANIAN CAPITAL TO MEET KING HUSSEIN JUST AS SHE HAD GONE TO MEET HIS GRANDFATHER, KING ABDULLAH, IN 1948. ON THAT OCCASION, SHE MADE A VAIN LAST-MINUTE BID TO AVERT THE ARAB-JEWISH WAR, TRAVELLING ACROSS THE GUERRILLA BATTLE LINES ROBED AND VEILED LIKE AN ARAB WOMAN.
MRS MEIR SAID ANY PEACE TALKS DEPENDED ENTIRELY ON KING HUSSEIN.
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