Background Report Cabinet Expected to Approve Peace Treaty but Will Reject Some Demands

The Cabinet which convenes in special session tomorrow, is expected to approve the draft peace treaty negotiated between Israel and Egypt in Washington over the past five weeks with the active help of the U.S. But it will reject Egyptian demands on the “linkage” issue that were introduced after the draft treaty was completed.

Premier Menachem Begin, addressing the Herut Party central committee in Tel Aviv last night, made it clear that this will be his recommendation when the Cabinet resumes debate. In his speech he flatly ruled out Egypt’s demand for a police presence and a liaison office in the Gaza Strip, terms not included in the Camp David accords. He said Israel was determined to stick to the letter of the Camp David agreements and carry them out.

Egyptian officials, interviewed for Israeli Television in Washington yesterday, were unhappy with the course of the Cabinet deliberations in Jerusalem so far. Vice President Hosni Mubarak said that if Israel accepted the draft treaty but rejected a timetable for implementation of the frameworks, it would create “a very, very difficult situation.” Osama El-Baz, director general of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and a member of the Egyptian negotiating team in Washington, declared that Egypt would insist on the linkage timetable.

ESSENCE OF ISRAEL’S VIEW

Begin’s position reportedly coincides with the proposal presented yesterday to the Cabinet by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, head of the Israeli delegation in Washington. It means, in essence, that Israel would withdraw a number of reservations expressed by the Cabinet earlier regarding the text of the treaty draft. In exchange, Israel would expect Egypt to back down on its latest demands for linkage and a precise timetable Israel would also expect the U.S. to press Egypt to withdraw its post-Camp David demands.

The main objections that the Cabinet would withdraw under the Begin-Dayan proposals are that Israel would no longer oppose inclusion of some “linkage” language in the draft treaty preamble, adapted from the Camp David general “framework for peace in the Middle East.” Some ministers had taken exception to this language, particularly the phrase “on this basis” which implied that future treaties between Israel and Arab states would be modeled on the Israeli-Egyptian treaty provision for full withdrawal from Sinai.

Israel would also no longer oppose a reference in the body of the draft treaty to the future status of the Gaza Strip that some ministers had objected to. Israeli legal aides have concluded that the reference does not necessarily renounce future Israeli claims to that territory.

The quid pro quo that Israel expects includes Egyptian withdrawal of its demand for a precise time-table related to implementation of the West Bank Gaza autonomy scheme. Egypt had insisted that elections in those territories be held within six months of the signing of the treaty and that the local autonomous councils start functioning within nine months.

But the Cabinet is also expected to reject the American compromise which extends the deadline to 12 months. Begin’s position is that while Israel is ready to begin negotiations on the “modalities” of autonomy at once, it cannot undertake to commit itself, at this stage, to a precise timetable for implementation in view of the many objective difficulties that may arise.

If the Cabinet in fact endorses the Begin-Dayan proposals, it will amount to a reversal of its decision taken three weeks ago to “accept in principle” the draft treaty but to “instruct the delegation” in Washington to seek a number of changes. Dayan, and Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, co-head of the Israeli delegation, seem to have persuaded Begin and a majority of the Cabinet that the changes, however desirable, are simply not attainable and that further bargaining over them will not be productive.

It remains to be seen if an easing of Israel’s position will induce a similar softening on the Egyptian side. Egyptian leaders, including Mubarak, have committed themselves heavily in recent days to the timetable linkage. It will require a good deal of tact and skillful diplomacy by the U.S. to facilitate an Egyptian backdown without loss of face for Cairo.

Nevertheless, most observers here believe the Begin-Dayan formula will prevail when the Cabinet meets. Tough opposition is expected, however, from such hardline ministers as Haim Landau and Ariel Sharon who may abstain in the vote or even vote against the treaty.