Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s five-day trip to Jerusalem and Alexandria for talks with Israeli and Egyptian leaders is backgrounded by demands in the Congress for a tougher U.S. position towards Syria and Saudi Arabia and an underground campaign by the Carter Administration against Israel’s position on settlement issues.
Appearing before the House International Relations Committee Friday, a few hours before his departure for Jerusalem to start his negotiations for a resumption of Egyptian-Israeli meetings, Vance said he would not visit any other countries but report immediately to President Carter after his conversations with Israeli Premier Menachem Begin in Jerusalem and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Alexandria.
However, Vance pointed out to the Committee that “we also are in close touch” with other “interested governments,” naming Saudi Arabia and Jordan and that he has communicated with governments “of importance such as Syria.” At “the moment discussions are at a critical point,” Vance said. “New efforts will have to be made and if necessary, as we have often stated, we are prepared to put forward suggestions to overcome obstacles to bridge the gaps and set negotiations back on the track.”
After receiving Vance’s briefing, which included other foreign affairs problems, the Committee went into closed session with him. Rep. Stephen Solarz (D. NY) said later that the Secretary did not “plow any new ground” in discussing the situation relating to Sadat’s termination, at Saudi Arabia’s bidding, of direct talks with Israel last Sunday. Saudi Arabia is widely reported as seeking to restore Egyptian-Syrian relations and an Arab united front against Israel.
SOLONS DISAPPOINTED WITH SAUDI ARABIA
Meanwhile, 13 Senators who had gone along last May with the Carter Administration’s insistence on providing 60 F-15 warplanes to Saudi Arabia and 50 F-5 aircraft to Egypt, wrote Vance they are “deeply” disappointed at the Saudi failure to provide the expected support for Middle East settlement progress.
With Sen. John C. Dansforth (R. Mo.) in the lead, eight Democrats and five Republicans who helped the Administration gain a 54-44 Senate victory last May for the sale of the warplanes to Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well as to Israel, signed the letter to Vance. The letter was originated when it became apparent after Vance’s appearance earlier last week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Saudi Arabia was behind Sadat’s torpedoing of talks with Israel.
The letter said: “During the arms sales debate in May, the Administration maintained that helping meet the perceived defense requirements of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, including approval of the sale of F-15s to the latter, would have a positive impact on the peace process in the Middle East but the hardening of attitudes by President Sadat and the lack of support by Saudi Arabia is deeply disappointing.”
The Senators urged Vance “to make clear to Egypt and Saudi Arabia the need for the prompt resumption of direct negotiations as the best hope for a genuine peace.”
Signing the letter, which was circulated only among some of those who favored the sale in May and not among any of the Senators who opposed the package deal, were Republicans John Tower (Texas), John Chafee (R.I.), Richard Lugar (Ind.) and Danforth, and Democrats George McGovern (S.D.), Thomas Eagleton (Mo.), Robert Stafford (Vt.), Robert Morgan (N.C.), Muriel Humphrey (Minn.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Bennett Johnston (La.), Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) and Edmund Muskie (Maine).
Meanwhile the Carter Administration began fighting the approval by the House of Representatives of a cutoff of the $90 million earmarked for Syria in the foreign aid appropriations bill. Administration actions appeared to be directed first toward blocking any such action in the Senate when the appropriation bill arrives there, or failing that, having the cutoff killed in a Senate-House conference. The House eliminated support for Syria because of Syrian army attacks on Christians in Lebanon.
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