Mrs. Meir Tells Knesset Interim Accord All but Dead in Light of Cairo-moscow Pact

Premier Golda Meir’s long awaited political report to the Knesset today dealt almost exclusively with the new Soviet-Egyptian 15 year treaty of friendship and cooperation. Mrs. Meir viewed the pact as an instrument for turning Egypt into a base for Soviet expansion, transcending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and as a lever by Egypt to force the U.S. to extract further concessions from Israel. The Premier indicated in her speech that she considered the chances of an interim agreement to reopen the Suez Canal all but dead in light of the treaty and subsequent statements by President Anwar Sadat. Nevertheless, she reiterated Israel’s continued willingness to negotiate an interim arrangement and laid down conditions for such an agreement. Mrs. Meir chided the U.S. for over-optimism in regarding President Sadat’s recent mass dismissals of pro-Soviet elements in the Egyptian political hierarchy as a shift away from the Soviet orbit toward the West. “All signs show that the arrests, imprisonments and purges…were intended first and foremost to consolidate Sadat’s position.” she said, adding that the hopes aroused by them in Western circles were “wishful thinking.” The Knesset endorsed Mrs. Meir’s report but the Gahal, Free Center, Rakach (pro-Soviet Communist Party), and Haolam Hazeh voted against the report.

(American sources in London and Paris indicated today that Secretary of State Rogers believes prospects for an interim settlement are still “fair” and that the U.S. is about to launch a new diplomatic offensive to achieve that goal. Rogers’ assessment was reportedly based on a message from President Sadat conveyed to him in Paris by Donald Bergus, the U.S. diplomatic representative in