A senior Israeli official said today that if President Anwar Sa cat of Egypt accepts the new American proposals which Israel accepted yesterday, there will be a peace treaty. “It is now all up to Sadat,” the official told media editors at a working break fast meeting at the Regency Hotel. Asked if he thought a peace treaty could be signed this weekend while President Carter will be visiting Egypt and Israel, the official said it was not realistic to expect it so soon, “but in a short period of time, yes.”
The official, who refused to divulge the nature of the American compromise proposals which he said led to the breakthrough in the talks between Premier Menachem Begin of Israel and Carter last Sunday afternoon, stated that the new proposals “do not harm Egypt” and that they are of a nature which Sadat can accept and state publicly that they constitute a realistic compromise.
While the official did not cover any new ground about the weekend talks between. Begin and Carter, he did focus on a new element in the Middle East which he said was of great concern to both Israel and the United States, namely, the need to assure the safety of Saudi Arabia from either internal upheavals or foreign invasion which would topple the present government and thereby possibly disrupt the flow of oil from that country to the free world.
CONCERN ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA’S SAFETY
“Israel is prepared to do all it can to help Saudi Arabia stave off a Communist takeover or an attack from outside forces, “he said. He noted that this had been an element in the discussions between Carter and Begin and that Carter had viewed sympathetically a proposal put forth by Begin in connection with assuring Saudi Arabia’s security. However, the official, who disclosed the proposal, urged that it be withheld from publication for at least 48 hours to give Carter a chance to discuss it with Sadat, since it would require the Egyptian leader’s agreement.
The official said there is genuine concern in Israel that Saudi Arabia which has virtually no army, may become the next Mideast country to suffer a political and economic dislocation of the type that has hit Iran. The safety of Saudi Arabia, he stressed, is a priority item at this time and its protection must be assured. Begin’s proposal to Carter would, If accepted by Sadat and Carter provide that kind of security.
(Begin remarked during his Sunday appearance on the ABC-TV “Issues and Answers” program that the two Israeli air bases in Sinai “can be used in the service of the free world.” The Israelis have been hinting in various ways in recent weeks that the free world would be best served it the U.S. took over one or both of the bases after Israel withdraws from Sinai under the terms of a peace treaty with Egypt now being negotiated. One of the bases is at Etzion, near Eilat, some 10 minutes flying distance from Saudi Arabia.
(Israel has not made any official proposals for such a transfer. But since the Sinai will be returned to Egyptian sovereignty under a peace treaty, Jerusalem has hinted that an understanding should be reached between the U.S. and Egypt on this matter.)
TRYING TO CONVINCE SADAT
Regarding Carter’s visit to Egypt and Israel, the official said the President is undertaking his present mission to convince Sadat to accept the new American proposals. “President Carter doesn’t have to belabor Israel since we’ve agreed, “he said. He reiterated that he hoped Sadat would accept the proposals which, he indicated, dealt with the issues of autonomy on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the issue of the priority of obligations clause in the Camp David agreements
Asked if he was concerned that the negotiation between Israel and Egypt were taking so long, especially in view of the hope expressed by Begin last September when he and Sadat signed the Camp David accords that a peace treaty would be signed within two months, the official said that 14 months of negotiations is “not a short period of time but it is not an intolerable period of time.” The Panama Canal treaty took three years, he observed.
He noted that there was nothing disastrous about taking time to reflect about a peace treaty that entail the issue of life or death for Israel and that of peace in the Middle East. Begin, he said, wanted the treaty signed two months after the Camp David accords were reached but that Egypt had changed its mind about a number of elements agreed to then and there by created obstacles to a hoped for speedy conclusion of the peace treaty.
POSSIBLE OIL DEAL WITH EGYPT
On other issues related to an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, the official was asked what plans Israel had for obtaining oil once Sinai is returned to Egypt. The official noted that Israel had proposed to Egypt that after returning the Sinai oil wells Israel would buy oil from Egypt at fair market price. He said he thought Egypt would agree to this because Egypt does not need that oil for domestic consumption since it is now exporting oil.
The official also stressed that in the final analysis a peace treaty would secure not only Israel’s future as the Jewish homeland but also as the only democracy in the Middle East. He noted that Israel stood alone as a democratic nation in that area and that in view of the political upheavals now going on and future possible upheavals, Israel should be strengthened. He did not rule out possible future treaties with the U.S. He noted that this was in the best interests of the United States and that Begin had made that point in his talks with Carter and Congressmen.
Finally, the official noted that Begin’s talks with Carter had been conducted in a very friendly atmosphere. He said the talks had been frank and that both officials had talked to each other as freemen. The official said that Begin and Carter had a basic disagreement over whether or not there were significant differences between Egypt and Israel over the issues of linkage, autonomy and priority of obligations. Carter insisted the differences were insignificant and Begin had contended that the differences were significant.
Carter, the official said, understood Israel’s position after his talks with Begin, “otherwise there would not have been the suggested new proposals which led to the break through Sunday at 2 p.m.”
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.
