President Carter signaled Egypt and Israel today that he wants them to reach a peace treaty by Dec. 17 because failure to meet that “deadline” would be “a very serious matter” with “far-reaching adverse effects.”
Speaking to reporters at a White House breakfast this morning, the President said, “If we go past the December 17 deadline for negotiating a treaty between Israel and Egypt it will cast doubt whether the Egyptians and Israelis would carry out the difficult terms of the upcoming treaty.”
He characterized the Dec. 17 date as “very, very important” and “perhaps at this point, more important” than either President Anwar Sadat of Egypt or Premier Menachem Begin of Israel consider it to be. “It is a very serious matter for us and them,” Carter said. “That is why I am sending (Secretary of State Cyrus) Vance to Egypt and then perhaps to Israel.”
The President’s indication of doubt that Vance may go to Israel, as had been announced by the State Department earlier this week, was cautiously amended later by the State Department’s chief spokesman, Hodding Carter. He said it was his “understanding that the Secretary intends to go to Israel” and mentioned a specific date, Tuesday, Dec. 12.
The spokesman said that Vance will leave tomorrow for London where he is to address the Royal Institute for Foreign Policy Saturday and will leave for Cairo Sunday and from there to Jerusalem Tuesday. “As of now, the planning is to come back (to Washington) at mid-week, but that might change,” the State Department spokesman said. He reiterated that Vance had no plans to visit any other Middle East country.
Carter made it clear that the Dec. 17 deadline is part of the Camp David accords. “I think the 17th date has much more significance to it than has been recognized because the Camp David accords specifically called for a three-month limitation,” he told the reporters at the White House breakfast.
SOFTER VIEW AT STATE DEPARTMENT
At the State Department, however, Hodding Carter said that under the Camp David accords, Dec. 17 was a “target date” but that “it carries with it some psychological weight.” He said he was “not aware of a feeling that the agreements would be annulled” if they are not reached by that date, but failure to do so would make it “more difficult” to conclude a treaty if “the process drags on.”
He explained, “When you begin to slip from a pace, a timing, on approach originally envisioned, it allows the forces which are operating against the accords more time to work against them.”
CAUTIONS ON WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS
President Carter also commented today on reports — denied by Israel — that Israel intends to establish five new settlements on the West Bank after the Dec. 17 deadline. He replied, “Yes, I would,” when asked by a reporter if he would consider such action a violation of the Camp David accords.
“My interpretation of the Camp David agreements — and you know that Prime Minister Begin disagrees with this interpretation — is that there is a moratorium on establishing new settlements until agreement has been reached on how to establish the autonomous government on the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” the President said.
The report about Israel’s settlement plans was attributed to a senior official in Jerusalem yesterday. It was denied today by Yehiel Kadishai, head of Begin’s Secretariate, who said the government had no such plans. Kadishai repeated, however, Israel’s contention that the freeze on new settlements was applicable only during the three-month period established by the Camp David agreements for negotiations with Egypt and that after the period expired, the government was free to take whatever action it chase with regard to settlements.
Asked about the conflicting reports from Jerusalem, State Department spokesman Hodding Carter said “essentially, the answer right now” is that “we are speaking about the general subject with the Israeli government without any clear understanding of the decision to do this or do that. The reports continue to be conflicting.”
He said the discussions were being conducted on the ambassadorial level. Asked if Vance would raise the question of settlements when he is in Israel, the spokesman replied, “The primary purpose of his mission is to move the (peace treaty) discussions along. That is the focus.”
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