Israel would be prepared to sign a separate peace treaty with Egypt “any time,” even before the planned Geneva conference, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan told a press conference here this morning at the end of a three-day official visit to the German capital.
Dayan said he was “very happy and satisfied” with the outcome of his talks with German political leaders. He had received assurances that “the German government will not negotiate with or recognize–the Palestine Liberation Organization as long as the PLO does not change its attitude to Israel.” He said Bonn also promised to “grant full support to President Sadat’s peace move, even though some Arab countries are not exactly supporting this move.”
Based on these comments alone, the Dayan visit can be described as a diplomatic success. Prior to the visit, Israeli sources had expressed disappointment at Bonn’s slow and hesitant welcome to the Sadat initiative and irritation at Bonn’s support for the European Economic Community’s (EEC) stress on Palestinian rights at Israel’s expense.
But Dayan indicated that some points of disagreement persist. He said he had criticized recent German and EEC support for UN resolutions condemning the provision by Israel of better housing for Gaza Strip Palestinians and condemning new West Bank settlements by Israel. “I can’t say after I explained our position that the German government will change its policy or position, though I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to explain,” he said.
CAIRO CONFAB IS A GOOD START
Dayan told reporters that he personally would prefer to have all the Arab countries presented at the coming Cairo meeting, adding that in that event Israel would still only accept bilateral negotiations with each country. But “even if Jordan and Syria don’t come, it is better to deal with Egypt alone than to have no negotiations at all.”
The Soviet refusal to attend Cairo “made sense” in view of anti-Soviet statements by President Sadat. But, Dayan added, “It is up to the parties–not to the Geneva co-chairmen U.S. and USSR–to decide what, where and when to negotiate.”
Asked about UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s invitation to an umbrella meeting at the UN, Dayan said: “My personal view is that face-to-face negotiations as last week in Jerusalem and shortly in Cairo should be sufficient before Geneva. It is not necessary to have any further meetings.”
He said that Sadat could, “if need be,” make war or peace alone, whereas all the other Arab countries, even together “can’t do so.” He believed Jordan and Saudi Arabia would “not come out against Sadat, though I don’t know if they will give him positive support.” He also did not know “whether the Egyptian military forces and people support him.”
ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS DEPLORED
Earlier, Dayan told West Germany’s leaders at a dinner in his honor here that Israelis were sorrowed by “the latest anti-Semitic incidents among youth” in Germany and “the attempts to re-write history and the nostalgia for the Hitler era in which can be detected an indulgence toward Nazi war criminals and their deeds.”
While Dayan mentioned no specific incidents, he was obviously referring to the recent symbolic “Jew burning” by cadets at a Munich officers’ training school, the recent appearance of books explaining the “human” side of Hitler and a controversial documentary film, “Hitler–A Career.”
Dayan spoke of his visit to the site of the notorious Bergen Belsen concentration camp, his first act on arriving in Germany Sunday. “One should never forget this mass annihilation, not to incite hatred but to hold before the eyes of youth throughout the world what happened on this continent in our generation.” Dayan said, however, that the Israeli government knew the German government and its leaders recognized these dangers and hoped “that they will take all the necessary measures against such dangerous occurrences.”
One of Dayan’s departures from his planned itinerary was to visit an exhibition on Egyptian art and history. No Egyptians were present during his visit.
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.
