Defense Minister Moshe Dayan reportedly told the Cabinet yesterday that the United States fully agrees with Israel’s view that the prospects for Middle East peace talks rested on Egypt’s response but that an affirmative response from Cairo was not likely at this time. According to informed sources, Dayan also disclosed that the U.S. asked Israel not to attack terrorist bases inside Lebanon because the Lebanese government has been taking steps to thwart terrorism within its borders.
Dayan, reporting on his meetings with Secretary of State William P. Rogers and other top U.S. officials in Washington last week, reportedly said that he and Rogers considered a partial agreement between Israel and Egypt to reopen the Suez Canal to be the most practical possibility for the time being but that the unclear situation prevailing within the Egyptian government left little hope that Egypt’s response would be affirmative at this time.
According to reports from Cairo, President An-war Sadat’s troubles are mounting. A report from Beirut yesterday said Egyptian authorities foiled a plot by anti-Soviet Army officers to overthrow the Sadat regime. The report said 35-40 of the alleged conspirators were arrested Nov. 11.
Dayan reportedly told the Cabinet that Rogers expressed renewed concern over the problem of terrorism. The Secretary of State assured him that the U.S. was seeking all possible international measures to curb it and warned Dayan that Israel should desist from attacking terrorist bases in Lebanon even if it appeared that Lebanon was still sheltering terrorists, the sources said.
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.
