Defense Minister Moshe Dayan will go to Washington Friday to present Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger with a detailed Israeli plan for a disengagement agreement with Syria. The plan is said to be modeled closely after the disengagement accord reached with Egypt last Jan. in which each side occupies a defined zone with a United Nations buffer zone in between to keep them apart.
But informed sources here said today that Israeli leaders entertain little hope that Syria will accept the Israeli plan since Damascus has rejected similar proposals in the past. Under those circumstances, Dayan’s visit to Washington is being regarded here as more of a courtesy to Kissinger than a significant mission with specific targets. The expectation here is that after a Syrian representative presents Washington with Damascus’ view of disengagement, Kissinger will come to the Middle East again to try to bridge the gap between the Israeli and Syrian positions.
Dayan’s trip to Washington, which appeared uncertain a week ago. is nevertheless definite. Dayan and Premier Golda Meir both referred to it in speeches today, and major aspects of the Israeli disengagement plan were described in the press. These include an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave in Syria captured during the Yom Kippur War but no change in the 1967 lines. In addition, Israel will demand the return of its POWs in Syria as part of a disengagement accord.
Specifics of the plan, published in newspapers here today, call for the creation of three zones in the 20 kilometer-wide Yom Kippur War enclave; Israel would retain a strip five kilometers in depth contiguous with the 1967 lines on the Golan Heights; a strip 10 kilometers wide would be returned to the Syrians, and a five kilometer-wide strip between the Israeli and Syrian zones would be occupied and policed by the United Nations. Israel is also reportedly proposing a thinning out of military forces for a depth of 20 kilometers on both sides of the disengagement zones. This would put Golan Heights settlements out of range of Syrian artillery.
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.
