Agreement of Understanding Reported

The newspaper Haaretz reported today that Israel and the U.S. will sign a secret agreement of understanding containing about 40 clauses as part of the second stage Sinai accord with Egypt. The paper said the agreement will cover three years and will include these major points:

The U.S. will not press for a partial settlement with Jordan; Washington will agree that no more interim settlements with Egypt will be initiated without Israeli approval; Washington will coordinate future political moves in the Middle East with Israel, including strategy at the Geneva peace conference, if it is reconvened; and Israel will agree to negotiate another partial settlement with Syria, but it will provide only “cosmetic changes” of the present cease-fire lines.

This evening Yitzhak Navon, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said on television that the proposed new interim agreement will include commitments from both sides to refrain from the use or threat of force, that the agreement will remain in force until replaced by a new one, and the UN peace-keeping mandate in Sinai will be renewed for at least three years. He also stated that under the accord Israeli cargoes will be allowed to pass through the Suez Canal on third-country flagships.

Navon said the implementation of the new agreement will be supervised by a joint committee from both countries and will include three parts: open commitments between Israel and Egypt; commitments between Israel and the United States, and indirect commitments between Israel and Egypt through Washington.