Carter: Israel’s Claim That It is Searching for Peace Would Suffer if It Annexed the West Bank

Former President Jimmy Carter believes that “If Israel were to annex the West Bank it would be, in effect, rejecting Resolution 242 as a basis for peace” in the Middle East. That, according to Carter, “would remove any vestige of legitimacy from the Israeli claim that they are searching for a peaceful solution” and would “probably terminate the Israeli-Egyptian treaty.”

Carter stated his views in the course of a four-hour interview with senior editors of Time magazine in Plains, Ga. in connection with the publication next month of “Keeping Faith,” a personal account of his years at the White House. Lengthy extracts from the book, published in the October 11 issue of Time, are a day-by-day summary of the Camp David meetings in September, 1978 between Carter, Israeli Premier Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sodat of Egypt.

In the interview, published in the same edition, Carter confessed he was “pro-Sadat.” He said he found the late Egyptian leader “completely open, courageous, generous, far-sighted … willing to ignore details to reach an ultimate goal of peace …”

Of Begin, Carter told the Time editors: “He is a man of almost unshakeable beliefs; He finds it very difficult to change his mind. It was torture for him to agree to remove the settlers from Sinai. He has a single minded commitment to annex permanently all the other occupied territories …”

In Carter’s view, “There is no doubt Begin’s purpose all the time (at Camp David) was to cut a separate deal with Egypt. He disavowed that intention, but all his actions, all his words indicated that. Begin was the most recalcitrant of all the Israelis at Camp David. I almost never had a pleasant surprise in my dealings with him …”

Speaking of recent events, Carter told Time, “I was shocked and repulsed by the attacks on the Palestinians in Lebanon. The bloodshed was grossly out of proportion to any threat to Israel on the northern border.”

Later in the interview, he accused Begin of “a tendency to treat the Palestinians with scorn, to look down on them almost as sub-humans and to rationalize his abusive attitude toward them by categorizing all Palestinians as terrorists.” He added: “I do not think Begin has any intention of ever removing the settlements from the West Bank and that is a very serious mistake for Israel.”

BASIS FOR A MIDEAST SETTLEMENT

According to Carter, a Mideast settlement “compatible with the Camp David accords” would require “Israel’s withdrawal of her armed forces and military government from the West Bank and Gaza; some modifications of the 1967 borders to enhance Israel’s military security; specified Israeli military outposts with demilitarization of the West Bank; a legitimate homeland there for the Palestinians, one hopes with a link to Jordan…”

Carter said “the Palestinians deserve full autonomy and an end to human rights violations” but “I would not say they have a right to an independent state, but to a political entity that is an identifiable homeland. The only logical place for it is on the West Bank.”

On Jerusalem, he thought the city should remain “undivided with unimpeded access to holy places by all worshipers.” He observed, however, that “Jerusalem is not only part of Israel, it is part of the West Bank and its ultimate status should be determined through negotiation” as provided for by Resolution 242.

ASSESSMENT OF MIDEAST LEADERS

The former President offered his assessment of various Middle East leaders. He said President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt had been one of Sadat’s closest associates and confidants. “I have never detected any inclination in Mubarak to do anything contrary to what Sadat would have done had he survived.”

Carter found King Hussein of Jordan to be “personally courageous but an extremely timid man in political matters.” He attributed that to the weakness of Jordan as a nation which was “a contrivance, arbitrarily devised by a few strokes of the pen.” Hussein “is frustrating because he has not been courageous at times when political courage is needed,” Carter said.

He described the Saudis as “a force for moderation and stability” in the region but admitted he was “frustrated that they did not have the confidence to say publicly, ‘Let us support Sadat and Camp David. We approve of Jordan and the Palestinians negotiating just to see if Israel is acting in good faith. That has not happened yet,” Carter said.

In the extract from his book, Carter observed; “The more I dealt with Arab leaders, the more disparity I discovered between their private assurances and their public comments. They would privately put forward ideas for peace and encourage us in any reasonable approach. However, the peer pressure among them was tremendous. None — apart from Sadat — was willing to get in front and publicly admit a willingness to deal with Israel.”

Speaking of Israel in his book, Carter wrote: “I consider this homeland for the Jews to be compatible with the teachings of the Bible, hence ordained by God. These beliefs made my commitment to the security of Israel unshakable.”