Dayan to Meet with Khalil in Europe

Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan is to meet with Egyptian Premier Mustapha Khalil in Europe, probably in Brussels, within the next day or two. This was reported by Israel Radio here tonight and was not denied by Israeli officials. Dayan left earlier in the day for Brussels to hold meetings there during the next three days with the European Economic Community-Israel Joint Economic Commission which he cochairs with West Germany’s Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher.

An Israeli government spokesman said the Dayan-Khalil meeting was initiated by U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and, according to Israeli sources, Vance himself is to participate in it. Vance was flying to Geneva tonight for talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko tomorrow and Friday on the SALT. The sources said the Dayan-Khalil meeting will be “about talks — about ways to get the negotiations started again.” It was not clear whether Defense Minister Ezer Weizman or another Israeli minister will join Dayan at the meeting with Khalil.

The indications were that the meeting was set up during yesterday afternoon Israel time. Dayan was seen entering a meeting between Premier Menachem Begin and a visiting delegation from the European Parliament and whispering urgently into Begin’s car.

Observers also noted that Dayan’s speech to the Knesset winding up its lengthy political debate last night had been a good deal more optimistic-sounding than a statement he made to the Knesset six hours earlier, at the start of the debate.

In his closing speech, Dayan said it would be wrong to conclude that the deadlock spelled the end of the treaty talks with Egypt. He emphasized Israel’s willingness to negotiate further on the letter which is to regulate procedures for the creation of the West Bank-Gaza Strip autonomy. (In Washington, the State Department would not immediately confirm or deny that Vance would go to Brussels after meeting with Gromyko.)