THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 DECEMBER 1973

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007624
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 17, 1973

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A011900010014-0
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The President's Daily Brief
17 December 1973
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of EO. 11652
exemption category 5/3( I
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
December 17, 1973
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Pro-fedayeen disorders are occurring
on the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Jordan.
Palestinian leaders have failed to agree on the
formation of .a state or on participation in the
Geneva talks. King Faysal remains adamant about
the return of East Jerusalem to Arab control../
(Page 1)
The EC summit produced guidelines for action on
energy problems. (page-3)
Poland has agreed to repatriate large numbers of
ethnic Germans in return for West German economic
aid.. (Page 4)
Brezhnev may have postponed his trip to Cuba.
(Page 5)
Saudi Arabia
. (Page 5)
Kuwait
(Page 5)
Turkey's President has asked for an end to. two
months of caretaker rule with the formation of a.
coalition government embracing all parties with ten
deputies in parliament.. (Page 5)
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ARAB STATES - ISRAEL
The US Consul in Jerusalem reports that develop-
ments in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of Jordan
are beginning to resemble the 1967-68 period, .when
women and students led widespread public disorders.
Israeli authorities on December 15 Arrested a number
of women demonstrators, including the wife of a for-
mer Jordanian cabinet minister. The Israeli:mili-
tary.government has also closed the 250-student
Anglican Arab College, the West Bank's only signifi-
cant college and long a center of Palestinian na-
tionalist activity. The Consul believes that these
Israeli efforts to forestall trouble are, in fact,
virtually certain to leadto disorder.
The Israeli Government has publicly reiterated
.that Israel Will not talk with Syrian representa-
tives at Geneva until Damascus provides it-with a
list of Israeli POWs,and allows International Red
Cross representatives to visit them.. Even if Syria
eventually produces such a list', it might prove to
be a bitter disappointment to Israel.
Palestine Liberation Organization chairman
Yasir Arafat failed last week to convince the PLO
Executive Committee to adopt a unified position
the rejection of Arafat's proposals reflect several
other factors that have influenced the thinking of
the PLO Executive Committee since the cease-fire:
--fedayeen dissatisfaction with the allegedly
"passive role" of the USSR in the search for
-a Middle East settlement;
fear that the Fatah-led PLO would
dominate an independent Palestine;
(continued)
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--Israel's continued "intransigence,' as mani-
fested in the Kilometer 101 talks;
--Iraq's well-orchestrated campaign to discredit
the moderate PLO leadership and to develop an
opposition front within the PLO.
King Faysal, meanwhile, is reported to be ada-
mant that East Jerusalem revert to Arab control.
The political officer of the Saudi Embassy in Cairo
informed the US Interests Section over the weekend
of Faysal's view that an Arab flag--Jordanian or
Palestinian--alone must fly over East Jerusalem..
The King, he claimed, will not accept any "open city"
plan. The Saudi said Faysal hopes that he has con-
vinced Secretary Kissinger of the Arabs moral as
well as legal right to the city.
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EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
The EC summit meeting adopted guidelines for
concerted action on energy problems. Between now
and early February the EC Commission is to draw
up an inventory of energy resources, examine the
effects of energy shortages on the EC's economy,
and make proposals for a common energy market. .
The Commission's mandate pointedly omits mention
of oil sharing?presumably still unpalatable to
France and Britain--and leaves considerable leeway
to each state in deciding how to limit energy Con?
sumption.
The program is a commitment toward solving
longer range aspects of the energy problem, and
includes accelerated research on new sources of
energy and creation of a European uranium enrich-
ment capacity. The statement suggests no date for
beginning negotiations on comprehensive coopera-
tion arrangements with oil-producing countries.
There was only an indirect response to Secre-
tary Kissinger's call for an Energy Action Group
in a reference to the usefulness of studying the
consumer countries' problems "within the framework
of the OECD."
Four Arab foreign ministers--from Algeria,
Tunisia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates--
came to Copenhagen and succeeded in using the sum-
mit to publicize Arab demands on Europe. They ap-
parently received no more from the Nine, however,
than a reiteration of the EC's November declara-
tion. Summit participants, moreover, conveyed
their irritation by publicly cautioning about the
negative effect of Arab oil measures on European
public opinion.
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UEST GER1A1Y - POLAND
Bonn and Warsaw edged closer to resolving their
problems during Foreign Minister Olszowski's visit
to Bonn in early December. Lower level negotiators
are expected to work out the final shape of an ac-
cord before Polish party chief Gierek makes his long-
awaited visit to West Germany next spring.
The Germans regard Polish concessions on emigra-
tion as a major breakthrough. The Poles agreed to
permit 50,000 ethnic Germans to emigrate next year,
and an additional
50,000 will be allowed to depart in each of the fol-
lowing two years.
The Germans had insisted that this concession
was required before Bonn could justify granting long-
term economic aid. The Poles had previously sought
a $1.2 billion credit, but last week Bonn held to an
offer of $400 million. The Germans are willing to
negotiate the terms, leaving open the possibility
that they will provide the loans at 4 percent inter-
est as the Poles have requested--less than half the
current market rate in the Federal Republic.
The current optimism in Bonn contrasts sharply
with the mood only a few weeks ago.
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NOTES
USSR-Cuba: General Secretary Brezhnev may have
postponed his trip to Havana.
Brezhnev has been scheduled to go late
this month to be on hand in early January for cele-
brations marking the 15th anniversary of Batista's
flight from Cuba.
Saudi Arabia - Japan:
Kuwait:
Turkey: In ,a major address on December 15,
Turkish President Koruturk asked caretaker Prime
Minister Talu to form a coalition government em-
bracing all parties that have at least ten depu-
ties in parliament. Talu is an independent. The
President also recommended that election laws be
revised in order to prevent new elections from
yielding the same results as those of October 14,
when no party received a mandate. Koruturk did
not say whether the eligible parties have agreed
yet to serve in such a coalition. Other attempts
over the past two months to put together a coali-
tion government failed because key parties refused
to participate.
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Top Secret
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