President Anwar Sadat of Egypt said on a television interview here last night that a full peace with Israel “should be left to the next generation,” that full recognition of Israel was “not available now” and insisted that the key to “a final solution” of the Middle East conflict is “in the hands of the United States which gives Israel everything” and is “the only one that can exert pressure on Israel.”
Appearing on the BBC “Panorama” program taped at Sadat’s summer home outside Cairo, the Egyptian leader hedged on Egypt’s acceptance of Israel’s right to exist and on the issue of transit for Israeli cargoes through the Suez Canal. The latter, he said, “will depend on the conduct of Israel,” When the interviewer noted that he had committed himself on the issue of Israeli cargoes when he signed the disengagement accords with Israel in January 1974, Sadat repeated, “According to the conduct of Israel.” Asked whether he was ready to recognize Israel’s right to exist, Sadat replied; “Resolution 338 says that the two superpowers guarantees the cease-fire, guarantee immediate implementation of Resolution 242. By accepting 242 I gave recognition of Israel’s right to exist.”
Sadat observed that the main lesson of the Yom Kippur War was that the Middle East conflict could not be solved by war. He said war was not inevitable but insisted that Israel proved during the latest Kissinger mission that it “feared peace” and claimed that “Israel is not capable of working for peace.” Sadat said he did not seek to have the U.S. abandon Israel, but wanted to know, “Is the U.S. going to protect Israel within her own borders or conquests?” The Egyptian President, who met with President Ford in Salzburg, Austria a week ago, observed that “There are two governments in America, one in the White House and one on Capitol Hill.”
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.
