Premier Menachem Begin has appealed personally to President Carter to correct the military balance of power in the Middle East that Israel believes has shifted in its disfavor as a result of the U.S. decision to sell advanced warplanes to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In a letter to Carter yesterday, the Premier expressed his government’s dismay over the aircraft package deal and asked for redress, apparently in the form of additional sophisticated weaponry for Israel.
His letter followed a five-hour Cabinet session Sunday devoted largely to the implications of the warplanes sales to the Arab countries as well as to Israel. The Cabinet decided to press the U.S. for long-term “compensation.”
WEIZMAN DUE IN WASHINGTON
Observers here expect Defense Minister Ezer Weizman to go to Washington shortly to seek acceleration of the “Matmon-C” program which calls for an American commitment to supply Israel with about $1 billion in arms each year for the next 10 years. The precise details of what Israel will be requesting is classified information.
Some political observers expressed hope today that President Anwar Sadat’s overwhelming victory in yesterday’s referendum on dealing with Egypt’s domestic crisis will prompt him to resume peace talks with Israel. Israeli officials are still waiting for Sadat’s reply to Israel’s request for “counter proposals” to the Begin peace plan on which negotiations can be based.
Meanwhile, it remained unclear if and when the Cabinet will discuss the key questions posed by the U.S. for clarification of Israel’s peace plan. Those questions were put to Begin and Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan by Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance earlier this month and the Americans appear to regard Israel’s answers as crucial to the resumption of the Middle East peace process.
Israel was asked whether the sovereignty issue on the West Bank will be resolved after the five-year period of “self-rule” proposed by Begin and if so, how; and how Israel proposes to allow the West Bank Arabs a voice in determining their own future, inasmuch as the Begin government has flatly rejected the American idea of a “limited referendum.”
The Cabinet had been expected to take up those matters at its weekly session last Sunday but instead deferred them to a future session without setting a date. The Cabinet is not expected to make any response before there is some move by Cairo to resume peace talks.
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