Defense Minister Moshe Dayan will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in Washington Friday to discuss the issue of disengagement of Israeli and Egyptian forces along the Suez Canal, it was announced officially today. Sources here were optimistic that Dayan would find Kissinger generally in agreement with the Israeli position on disengagement and that the disengagement talks in Geneva would reach a successful conclusion by the end of the month.
Kissinger reportedly speaks in terms of the last week of Jan. as the time for reconvention of the Geneva conference on the Foreign Ministers’ level to ratify the disengagement accord which hopefully will have been reached then. The military talks resumed late today and are expected to move into substantive matter next week–after the Kissinger-Dayan meeting. Points which Day-an and Kissinger will discuss include the following:
Mutuality: This is one cardinal principle on which no agreement has yet been reached with Egypt. Israel demands that in return for evacuating the west bank of the Suez Canal and pulling away from the canal to the Mitleh Pass, Egypt should furnish a suitable substantial quid pro quo. Israel thinks in terms of reopening the canal to all shipping and rehabilitating the canalside cities Israel would see in the normalization of civilian life on the canal a proof of Egypt’s good faith–and also an insurance against the war’s sudden resumption. Egypt’s leaders would have to think hard before resuming the war once the canal was humming again with life and commerce.
Time: The duration of the disengagement agreement is very important in Israel’s eyes. Israel wants to see it in effect for months or perhaps a year or more before moving to further talks and further pullbacks. The working of it would be an ongoing test of Egypt’s sincerity and intent observers here believe.
Thinning out of Egypt’s east bank forces: No agreement has been reached on this yet but Israel is determined that the Egyptian force remaining on the east bank pose no aggressive threat. The UNEF and buffer zone between the two armies would prevent sudden attacks and Israel proposes joint Israel-Egypt patrols to prevent clandestine buildups.
Sources here say the U.S. agrees with most of Israel’s principles, hence Dayan’s optimism that he and Kissinger will find common ground when discussing the implementation of those principles. (See separate story P. 3 for Washington reaction to Dayan-Kissinger talks:) By David Landau
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