55 years ago/June 18, 1967

The Israeli government continued to discuss the future of the territories occupied during the Six-Day War. Because of the duties during the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Abba Eban couldn’t participate. In the morning Minister of Tourism Moshe Kol questioned whether the Jordan River was the secure border for Israel, because it could lead to a binational state. Topics like the Palestinian refugees, water sources and distribution were discussed. The afternoon meeting was started by the Minister of Police, Eliyahu Sasson, who told it would be enough to ask free navigation through the Tiran Straits and the Suez Canal, the demilitarization of the Sinai Peninsula, and that the Gaza Strip not being the part of Egypt in turn to withdraw the Israeli forces from the Sinai. He also suggested to demand the demilitarization of the Golan Heights and an agreement containing regulation about the sources of the Jordan River could be achievable with Syria. His approach based on the thought to reach an agreement as soon as possible in order to avoid keeping up the occupation of one and a half million Arabs for long. The other ministers had different ideas and they couldn’t agree, they postponed the discussion to the following day.