Behind the Headlines Sadat Wove Thorny Carpet for Begin’s Visit to Washington

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat left Washington with flourishes of good will for Americans, the Palestinians and other Arabs, West Europeans, the Third World and in the glow of a crowded press conference, a promise of support of 800 million Moslems for the United States in an anti-Soviet alliance if Washington accepts the Arab concept of a Mideast peace.

Sadat also held out suggestions to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin whose turn at the White House with President Carter comes Tuesday and Wednesday. If “my friend Begin” accedes to “the spirit” of Camp David, the further talks among the emissaries of Egypt, Israel and the U.S. on West Bank-Gaza autonomy could follow next week and even a three-way summit soon afterward to culminate the Camp David process, he said.

But coupled with that was a warning that if Begin does not move toward his interpretations then there are “alternatives” like the French-British-German initiative to amend UN Security Council Resolution 242 that would bring the Palestinians into the negotiations and redefine international security for Israel.

Since Resolution 242 in its present form underpins the Camp David formulas and President Carter is publicly committed to it, observers believe Sadat may be out on a limb in this maneuver. But they also recall the “mistake” in the lost U.S. vote in the Security Council and wonder whether the Carter Administration’s legal specialists cannot find reasons to get around the commitment if May 26 arrives without tangible narrowing of the Israeli-Egyptian differences.

Some analysis consider Sadat to have shrewdly capitalized on the perceived weaknesses in the Carter Administration with accusations hurled against it both here and abroad that it lacks the will and power to challenge the Soviet Union, Iran and even radicals in Colombia. Sadat thus presented himself as the master strategist of a “victory” for the Administration in the Arab-Israeli conflict by having Begin bludgeoned into “concessions,” analysis said, while he is emerging as a hero worthy of the broad military and economic aid he is seeking. Begin is coming here with a Cabinet decision binding him against discussing Jerusalem since it is not part of the Camp David formula regarding autonomy. The State Department, however, has indicated he will not be allowed to stay mum. President Carter, it was said, will raise issues and then it will be up to Begin to decide whether he will respond. This puts Begin in a position of risking being spotlighted again in the world media as the intransigent” who refuses to discuss “progress” toward autonomy “in the spirit” of Camp David.

In his final meeting with reporters last Thursday at the National Press Club, following conclusion of his official talks, Sadat hammered of Israel’s West Bank settlements, called for Arab sovereignty in East Jerusalem with Moslem and Christian control of the holy places without any mention of Jewish participation in any form, and statehood (“self-determination”) for the Palestinian Arabs after five years of “autonomy” on the West Bank and Gaza.

“If his Press Club speech is what he really means then Sadat has destroyed the Camp David formula, but he may not mean that privately,” an independent foreign correspondent observed. He said that even as Sadat was challenging Israel to give ground to the Palestinian Arabs, Sadat was saying that differences with Israel do not threaten the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

“The normalization between us is a fact and there is no going back,” Sadat said. The correspondent thus summarized that “as of now Sadat’s position forward Israel is uncertain and puzzling but there is no question he has woven a thorny carpet for Begin in Washington.”

CERTAIN STEPS ARE ENVISAGED

Sadat indicated that “certain specific steps” are envisaged by him and Carter, such as self-government for the Palestinians first in Gaza and possibly leaving the water resources problem on the West Bank to the Palestinian Arabs and Israelis. He made a bow to the Palestinians by asking Israel to perform “confidence-building measures” such as freeing political prisoners, lifting restrictions on political activities on the West Bank and Gaza, and reuniting Arab families.

No indication was made that, according to the State Department’s Human Rights Report in February, Israel has already allowed 50,000 Arabs to return to Israeli-controlled areas. At the same time, any Jewish presence on the West Bank is bitterly denounced. Sadat claimed that Israel broke an agreement with Egypt for new West Bank settlements. He said they disturbed “the quiet atmosphere” required for successful negotiations. But when he was asked to explain his statement, Sadat said the agreement was “not written” but was in the “spirit” of the Camp David meetings 18 months ago.