The Cabinet today approved the United States-Israeli memorandum of understanding which is designed to provide U.S. political assurances on the implementation of the peace treaty with Egypt.
Approval at the seven-hour session came after the memorandum was agreed upon by Premier Menachem Begin and U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance at a meeting in New York last night. Acting Premier Zevulun Hammer consulted Begin by telephone during the Cabinet meeting.
The memorandum was approved by the nine Cabinet members who stayed in Israel, acting as a ministerial defense committee although the actual committee, with the exception of Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, was on its way to Washington for the peace treaty signing ceremony. They are expected to approve the memorandum after they arrive in Washington. No details were given here regarding the contents of the memorandum. Neither Begin nor Vance gave any details after their meeting in New York.
Sharon did not go to Washington because of his dissatisfaction with the treaty. He had voted for the treaty in the Knesset last Thursday after earlier opposing it in the Cabinet vote. In a television interview over the weekend he said Israel was making one-sided gestures toward Egypt, such as permitting political activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the moving of army command posts out of Gaza. “And if I were to tell you what I know, apart from what everyone read in the papers, the picture would look much worse,” Sharon said.
This issue was also discussed at the Cabinet meeting. A resolution was adopted and forwarded to Begin but it was not made public.
TENSIONS ON THE WEST BANK
The Cabinet also discussed the tension on the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Following the meeting, Hammer was asked what the Cabinet would do if Gush Emunim should try to establish new settlements without authorization.
“I don’t see any special point in such settlements,” Hammer said. He said the Cabinet will be discussing the problem of autonomy and of settlements for the next month. “I don’t see any special value in demonstrating right now, “he said.” But if somebody tries to establish the settlements, we shall have to act accordingly.”
Meanwhile, King Hussein’s supporters on the West Bank have for the first time publicly condemned the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the autonomy plan. At a meeting in East Jerusalem last Thursday they issued a statement charging that the autonomy plan will perpetuate “Israeli occupation.” They said they would work for an independent Palestinian state under the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and called on all Arab states to punish Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for his “betrayal of the Arab and Palestinian cause.”
Among those participation in the meeting were Anwar el-Hatib, who was governor of the Jerusalem district under the Jordanian regime, and Sheikh Saad A-Din Almi, Mufti of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
However, Sadat is apparently ready to make a strong attempt to win West Bank support for the autonomy plan once the treaty is signed. The Israeli Arabic language newspaper AI Kuds said last Friday that an Egyptian delegation will come to the West Bank soon to meet with important figures.
Meanwhile, security was extremely tight in Jerusalem today following an explosion near Zion Square Friday afternoon which killed one man and injured 13 others. The dead man was identified as Yisrael Yoacov, 72, of Jerusalem. The PLO in Beirut claimed responsibility for the bombing.
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