Cabinet Approves Isrrael’s Position in Negotiations for New Accord

Israel’s position in the negotiations for a new agreement with Egypt was approved by the Cabinet today following a six-hour meeting, thus paving the way for Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to come to the Middle East for a renewal of his “shuttle diplomacy” between Jerusalem and Cairo. American Ambassador Malcolm Toon, after meeting with Premier Yitzhak Rabin following the Cabinet session, told newsmen it was almost certain that Kissinger would be in the Mideast this week.

(President Ford announced this afternoon that Kissinger will fly to the Middle East on Wednesday to conduct negotiations on an interim peace agreement. Ford made the announcement in Vail, Colorado, where he is vacationing. See separate story.)

The King David Hotel reported it has reserved its sixth floor for the Kissinger entourage and Israeli police have begun instituting the necessary security precautions.

The Cabinet meeting was delayed for an hour as the negotiating team — Rabin, Foreign Minister Yigal Allon and Defense Minister Shimon Peres — met with Justice Minister Haim Zadok and Chief of Staff Gen, Mordechai Gur on legal and military questions involved in the proposed settlement. Also discussed were reservations by some members of the Cabinet toward the proposed agreement.

CHIEF ISSUES STILL TO BE SETTLED

A communique issued by the Cabinet said: “At its session today, the Cabinet gave its approval to the position of the ministerial team on the issues of an interim settlement, as it has been clarified to the government of the United States, including issues of importance on which agreement has not yet been reached. The Cabinet authorized the ministerial team to continue the negotiations in accordance with the positions approved by the Cabinet,”

According to observers, the chief issues still to be settled are Israel’s insistence that the areas from which she will withdraw should be demilitarized and put under United Nations control and what will be the number and role of the American technicians that will be sent to the Sinai to man the early warning electronic system. The negotiating team had met long in the night yesterday after they received a report from Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz on his talks with Kissinger. The team was in constant contact with Dinitz receiving and relaying clarifications on various points.

MORE EXTENSIVE WITHDRAWAL REPORTED

As a second-stage interim agreement between Israel and Egypt moved closer to reality today it was reported that Israel appears to be ready to withdraw further back in the Sinai then had previously been believed.

The new line that Israel reportedly agreed to is based on suggested American compromise on the proposals made by Israel and Egypt. It will go east of Rimini down to a ridge called Um Mathcha, which is west of Refidim and then to the eastern slope of the Gidi Pass, where only one-and-a-half of the 30 kilometers in the pass will remain in Israeli hands. The line will then go to the eastern slopes of the Mitla Pass where Israel will retain only 300 meters, then move west and south parallel to the Gulf of Suez coastline and not far from the Abu Rodeis oilfields. The southern section of the line will pass north of A-Tour.

OPPOSITION TO ACCORD MOUNTING

Meanwhile, opposition to the agreement is mounting from members of the Likud opposition, former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Tourism Minister Moshe Kol, Liberal Party leader Leon Dulzin, student groups, and the Gush Emunim movement some of whose members plan to hold a public “trial” of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. At the same time, the Mapam kibbutz section has decided to support the government in its efforts to reach the interim agreement which the Mapam section regards as an essential road towards peace — with the condition that Israel’s security is not undermined.

Dulzin, who is now acting chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, voiced his opposition to the agreement at a meeting of the Liberal Party’s Political Committee. He said that the has reliably learned that the government is not happy with Kissinger’s scheduled arrival in Israel but the American Secretary told the Cabinet, “I am coming,” facing it with an accomplished fact.

Herut, which is a partner of the Liberal Party in Likud, charged that Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s government does not represent the people and has no right to sign any agreement. The Herut Youth Movement today charged the agreement was a one-sided concession by Israel and is seeking to organize the other youth movements in Likud to launch a campaign against the accord.

Dayan’s opposition was made this morning as he was leaving for Canada on a speaking tour on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal. He repeated his contentions that an interim agreement will solve nothing and that Israel should seek an overall settlement in return for a non-belligerency agreement from the Arab states. He said that for this Israel should make even greater concessions.

Kol, considered to be one of the “doves” in the Cabinet, speaking at an ILP settlement, Alone Itzhak, said the Egyptians were constructing fortifications east of the Suez Canal which will enable them to deploy troops and equipment for aggressive purposes. He said if a new agreement allows the Egyptians to advance their forces and if they construct fortifications for offensive purposes near the passes, Israeli security will be seriously endangered. He said the further the Egyptians advance into the Sinai the less chance there is that the peninsula will be demilitarized.

URGES THAT KISSINGER SHOULD DELAY SHUTTLE

Elimelech Rimalt, another leader of the Liberal Party, said Israel should tell Kissinger not to come to the Middle East because once he begins his shuttle negotiations the government will do everything to prevent its failure because of the trauma that engulfed the Cabinet when Kissinger’s efforts failed last March. Rimalt, considered as a “dove” within the Liberal Party, said he would support an interim agreement with Egypt but not the present one which was imposed on Israel.

The Israeli Students Association also decided today to oppose the agreement on the grounds that it is purely a military accord and there is no political undertakings by Egypt in return for Israeli territorial concessions. The students charged the agreement was dictated to Israel by the United States. They cabled President Ford saying that since it was only a military agreement he should send Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger to the Mideast instead of Kissinger.

The “trial” of Kissinger is being prepared by members of Gush Emunim, the movement which has demanded Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and members of the Bar llan University Students Association. They charged that Kissinger endangers the peace of the free world, as, they say, he endangered peace in Chile, Vietnam, Cyprus, Cambodia and Israel. Hundreds of people, at the instigation of Gush Emunim, phoned the Ministry of Defense Friday opposing any withdrawal.

PERES; U.S. PERSONNEL AS PEACE CORPS

The Cabinet’s communique was careful to underline those areas in which agreement has not yet been reached. It was meant to stress that there are questions which still must be answered and that these are not merely marginal issues. This wording was arrived at, it was learned, to prevent the possibility that Kissinger would again blame Israel for misleading him, as he did last March when his shuttle effort was suspended. The wording of the communique also provided the basis for an almost unified vote in the Cabinet. Only Yitzhak Rafael, Minister of Religious Affairs, abstained.

Meanwhile, Peres explained that the American personnel that would supervise the Sinai area will not be a military involvement but a political involvement on the part of the U.S. He said, in reply to questions of officers in the central command, that U.S. personnel would not replace either the Israeli or Egyptian armies. He said the personnel should be viewed as a peace corps, and thus absolutely different from the nature of U.S. involvement in other areas.