The Cabinet, meeting in secret session this morning as a ministerial security committee, decided to stand firm on the positions Israel has taken with regard to a bilateral accord with Egypt in Sinai, despite admittedly worsening relations with Washington and continuing efforts by Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to persuade Israel to soften its stand. The ministers were briefed on political and military developments by Foreign Minister Yigal Allon and Defense Minister Shimon Peres but no new decisions were taken, officials said.
According to well placed sources, the government is deeply concerned over the low state of its relations with Washington but it is determined not to shift from the position it held when the second-stage Sinai talks conducted by Kissinger were suspended on March 22.
One source described the present situation as a “war of nerves.” The source claimed that Kissinger, in unofficial briefings and statements, is applying psychological and political pressure on Israel to move closer to Egypt’s demands. The source conceded that only in that eventuality is Kissinger likely to consider it worth while to try to resume his step-by-step initiative before the Geneva conference is reconvened.
ISRAEL’S OFFERS OUTLINED
Well placed sources said after the Cabinet meeting that Israel’s offers–categorically rejected by Egypt–still stand. These are: a full peace treaty under which Israel would return the bulk of the Sinai peninsula to Egypt; a major interim agreement by which Israel would withdraw east of the Sinai passes and from the Abu Rodeis oil fields in return for a formal Egyptian declaration of non-belligerence–restoring as much as half of the peninsula to Egypt; and a more modest proposal whereby Israel would withdraw from the western half of the passes in exchange for less far-reaching political concessions by Cairo.
It was learned here tonight that a “doveish” minority within government policy-making circles still believes that Israel ought to make further compromise proposals. But the “doves” apparently are not in an aggressive mood at present and seem content to follow the majority position in the hope that the crisis with Washington will somehow pass.
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