Western Europe is following with unprecedented interest Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s trip to Israel. Observers here described the West European mood as “surprise, elation and passionate interest.”
Most papers say it is the most important meeting in the post-war era. In many churches, prayers for peace were being offered over the weekend. Tens of millions of people gave up their normal weekend activities to remain glued to their television screens to watch Sadat’s arrival last night and the speeches this morning of Sadat, Premier Menachem Begin and Labor Alignment leader Shimon Peres.
The speeches by Sadat and Begin disappointed most French commentators, who said “Sadat asked for too much and Begin offered too little.” What struck most of the commentators here was Begin’s omission of the Palestinian issue which one noted, “simply fails to exist in the Israeli government.”
French opposition leader, Socialist Party Secretary Francois Mitterand, paid tribute to Sadat’s “courage and “courage and imagination. “French Premier Raymond Barre said “it was an important step towards a solution.” President Valery Giscard d’Estaing watched throughout the day the live programs from Jerusalem, an Elysee Palace spokesman said.
In Eastern Europe, the press and the other media laconically reported on the visit and its developments. The Soviet news agency Tass released a brief comment saying “President Sadat has taken no heed of the wide ranging protests in the Arab world, including the opposition of Syria’s President.” The Soviet press concentrated mainly on quotations from the Arab papers which oppose Sadat’s trip.
Within the Jewish community in Eastern Europe, there seems to be a “huge interest” in the event, according to foreign correspondents in Moscow. Jewish sources in Paris say thousands of Jews gathered in Moscow near the synagogue to recite prayers for peace. French TV reporters in the Soviet Union said “countless Jews remained at home to listen to foreign broadcasts on the visit.” In London, British Foreign Secretary David Owen hailed Sadat’s mission to Israel as a “bold and imaginative gesture.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
