Eagleburger Holding Wide-ranging Discussions with Israeli Officials

Lawrence Eagleburger, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, arrived here today for wide-ranging discussions with Israeli officials expected to cover strategic cooperation between the two countries, the situation in Lebanon, U.S. military and economic aid to Israel and the controversial American plan to arm Jordanian troops to participate in the U.S. rapid deployment force aimed at protecting the Persian Gulf.

Officials here do not believe that Eagleburger and his entourage have brought any “operative proposals” from Washington. They said they definitely do not expect any discussion of military measures of a practical nature.

But both Israeli and American sources here indicated that an effort may be made to revive the “memorandum of understanding” on strategic cooperation which Israel and the U.S. initialed in December, 1981 but was promptly cancelled by the Americans when Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights.

The deepening U.S. involvement in Lebanon and its generally more assertive posture worldwide is believed by some observers to have rekindled the Administration’s interest in the memorandum. In its original form, it provided for the pre-positioning of U.S. military and medical supplies in Israel for possible use by American forces in the Middle East; the use by American forces of Israeli seaports and airfields, should the need arise; and close strategic consultation.

Israeli sources said the intention now is not to renew the precise wording or format of the memorandum but to consider various “elements” contained in it. In 1981, then Secretary of State Alexander Haig was very much in favor of close military-logistical cooperation with Israel while Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was believed to entertain a negative view for fear of driving friendly Arab states out of the American orbit. But it was Weinberger who drafted the memorandum along with the then Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon. (Separate Analysis, P.3.)

Israeli observers believe U.S. policymaking is still strongly affected by possible Arab reactions to any substantive tilt toward Israel. In their view, this will deter Washington from trying to involve Israel in direct, practical military operations in the region which may be contemplated in the aftermath of the terrorist bombing of marine headquarters in Beirut on October 23 which took the lives of 230 U.S. servicemen.

According to this view, the U.S. does not want to be perceived as working in tandem with Israel against any Arab or Moslem state. Government circles do not believe, however, that the U.S. plans at this time to exact military retribution for the terrorist bombing in Beirut.

For one thing, the perpetrators have not been identified and in the meantime, the U.S. incursion into Grenada has complicated the problem from the political and public relations points of view, these circles say.

ISSUE OF JORDANIAN UNITS

Eagleburger and his Israeli hosts are expected to have intensive discussions of the plan to incorporate Jordanian units into the rapid deployment force. Israel’s official position is strongly negative.

The Israelis maintain that while the force’s target is to protect the pro-Western Persian Gulf states, American equipped elite units of the Jordanian army would pose a direct threat to Israel. Premier Yitzhak Shamir made that point of view clear at a briefing to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee yesterday.

Nevertheless, observers here believe Israel will not try to wage a fight against the American plan in the U.S. Congress or in the area of American public opinion. They say Israel was chastened by its defeat over the sale of AWACS reconnaissance planes to Saudi Arabia two years ago and is well aware of the limitations of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington against a determined Administration.

Instead, the observers said, Israel will seek “compensation” in terms of U.S. military and economic aid for the strengthening of Jordan’s armed forces. Shamir however vehemently denied yesterday that such would be the case.

Israeli officials nevertheless intend to raise with Eagleburger the question of U.S. military and economic aid. But they first must resolve the ongoing dispute between the Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry over what proportion of the aid should be in loans and what proportion in outright grants.

Eagleburger is scheduled to meet first with Shamir and Deputy Foreign Minister Yehuda Ben-Meir. He said on his arrival today that he was here to continue talks “on international matters and bilateral issues” which were begun earlier this year.