Carter Says He Supports Israel’s Settlements in Administered Areas

Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter said today that Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories were proper and that he supported the sale of the C-130 transport planes to Egypt, but not pre-emptive weapons. Carter, who is campaigning for the Democratic Presidential nomination in next Tuesday’s New York State primary, made his remarks in answer to questions during a 30 minute meeting with an invited group of about 100 Jewish leaders.

Answering a question which noted that the Ford Administration has called the Jewish settlements in the territories illegal. Carter said Israel has never said the settlements are permanent and there is no reason why the land itself should not be settled.

Earlier in his prepared remarks. Carter repeated his statement made several times previously that if he was Premier of Israel he would not give up control of the Golan Heights or of East Jerusalem, including the holy places. He said as President he would not press Israel to relinquish those areas.

EXPLAINS STAND ON C-130S

In explaining his support for the Administration’s proposal to sell Egypt the C-130s. the Democratic candidate said he believes that the Egyptian-Israeli agreement on the Sinai was beneficial to Israel and that it was equally beneficial to Israel for the United States to continue having whatever influence it now has on Egypt. He said the C-130s did not constitute a military threat to Israel and he “would not sell pre-emptive weapons” to Egypt.

Carter opened his talk to the Jewish leaders with a statement that “I have an absolute total commitment as a human being, as an American, as a religious person, to Israel….Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.”

He declared that the cornerstone of American foreign policy is a commitment to the survival of Israel and he believes that this position is shared by the majority of all Americans. At the same time, he said, the Palestinians as a political entity must be recognized, preferably within the context of Jordan, but not before Palestinians recognize the right of Israel to exist.

TERMS J-V AMENDMENT COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE

In response to a question. Carter declared that the Jackson-Vanik Amendment had been “counter-productive” to the struggle for Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. He said Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had told him and other governors in 1974 that the Soviet Union had agreed to liberalize its emigration policy.

The amendment and a bill limiting loans from the Export-Import Bank had, however, caused the Soviet Union to feel it was not getting any benefits for the limited U.S. trade it would be receiving, Carter said. But he pledged that as President he would use all his powers, including trade, to persuade the Soviet Union to allow Jews and others to emigrate.

Carter said he believed that there should be a strong national policy opposing the efforts of the Arab boycott in discriminating against American Jews. He accused the U.S. Commerce Department of encouraging firms to move their, business out of the Port of New York to other ports because New York State had a strong anti-boycott law.

VIEW ON LEBANON SITUATION

Asked what he would do if Israel went into southern Lebanon in response to a Syrian move into that country Carter said he would rather not answer that question. He said that as President he might have more information than at present and he did not want to make any statements which he could be accused of later as going back on.

However, earlier this week in Wisconsin. Carter accused one of his opponents for the Presidential nomination. Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.Wash). of reflecting a habitually “war like attitude ” by saying that the U.S. should have offered to go into Lebanon to end the civil strife. Jackson, who at first recalled that President Eisenhower sent troops into Lebanon In 1958, under questioning said the U.S. should only go in at the request of the Lebanese government. “Our services were never offered to my knowledge.” Jackson said.