Defense Minister Ezer Weizman was greeted at Cairo airport at noon today by Egypt’s Minister of War Kamal Hassan Ali. The two men will begin three days of talks an implementation of the military aspects of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Weizman told reporters that he came to discuss not principles but details of Isreal’s phased withdrawal from Sinai.
Weizman, accompanied by his wife, began his visit as Israel and Egypt exchanged the documents of ratification formally putting their treaty into effect. The ceremony that ended the 31-year state of war between the two countries was held at Umm Hashiba, an American-manned listening past in Sinai today.
Sources in Cairo said President Anwar Sadat would meet with the Israeli defense chief at Ismailio tomorrow. Weizman’s meetings with Ali and other senior Egyptian officers are expected to define the relationships between the armies of both countries during the various stages of withdrawal and after the withdrawal is completed in three years. The first stage will begin next month when Israel returns El Arish, the administrative capital of Sinai, to Egyptian sovereignty and its forces are deployed on a new line running from just east of El Arish to Ras Mohammed on the Red Sea.
Ali told reporters at the airport that the recent events in Lebanon are not on the agenda of his talks with Weizman but the question might be raised. He also expressed regret ever Israel’s decision to establish two new settlements on the West Bank. Weizman declined to comment when asked about this but said Israel would do its best not to create political difficulties for Egypt. “Unfortunately, you (Egypt) are being attacked politically by your (Arab) neighbors, your brothers who don’t look favorably at the peace treaty,” Weizman said.
An apparent slip-of-the-tongue by Weizman created a brief sensation in Israel when the Defense Minister reportedly said it was time for the PLO to stop shooting and start talking, implying that Israel might abandon its policy of no contacts with the terrorist organization. Israeli correspondents with Weizman in Cairo explained later that he had meant Palestinian Arabs, not the PLO, and in fact corrected himself.
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.
