An Arab diplomatic offensive aimed at exploiting apparent differences between Israel and the United States over the Big Four Mideast talks by urging American pressure for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories appeared to be gaining momentum here today. King Hussein of Jordan, who is in Washington as an official guest of President Richard M. Nixon, will have his third meeting with the President in the White House tomorrow. Dr. Mahmoud Fawzi, top diplomatic adviser to President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, will meet with Mr. Nixon on Friday for what will be the first business talk between an American President and an Egyptian diplomat since Caire severed relations with the U.S. during the June, 1967 war.
King Hussein was reportedly coordinating his diplomacy with the other Arab states. He was to meet today with all Arab chief of diplomatic missions to review the strategy of the Arab campaign to force an Israeli withdrawal. He was also to meet with Secretary of State William P. Rogers and with Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird to review Jordanian military needs. Both King Hussein and Dr. Fawzi want to persuade the Nixon Administration that the Middle East is headed toward a new explosion which only prompt action by the Four Powers could avert. According to the Washington Evening Star’s State Department correspondent, George Sherman, they have made some headway. Mr. Sherman reported today that the Arab campaign was gaining reception here while a gap has developed between Washington and Jerusalem. He said “American officials admitted, without apparent concern, that this growing dialogue with the Arab leaders is being fed by the persistent breach between the U.S. and Israel over Four Power talks at the United Nations. Israel charges–and the Administration denies–that the talks will be the mechanism for imposing an undesirable settlement on the Middle East.”
In addition to his claim that time is running out in the Middle East, Dr. Fawzi is said to be ready to discuss the question of restoring diplomatic relations with the U.S. should President Nixon raise that question. The American position has been that relations could be resumed without “conditions” by a simple exchange of letters. But the Nasser regime has been insisting, as a condition, that the U.S. apply stronger pressure on Israel. The most the U.S. has done to meet the Nasser requirement is the statement by Secretary of State Rogers to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the final Israeli borders must not reflect “the weight of conquest.”
An Air Force jet will fly King Hussein to McDill Air force Base in Florida tomorrow where he will inspect Jordanian Air Force personnel undergoing advanced training and military equipment destined for delivery to Jordan. The King’s entourage includes a military mission which consists of his Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Ahmad Touqan; Lt. Gen. Amer Khammash, Chief of Staff of the Jordanian Army; Brig. Gen. Sharif Zaid Bin Shakir, commander of the Royal Armored Corps, and Col. Anwar Muhammed, aide-de-camp to the King.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
