Ford Administration to Be Tested This Week with the Arrival of Fahmy and Hussein

The Ford Administration’s Middle East policy will have its first test this week with the arrivals in Washington of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy and King Hussein of Jordan. The visits by Middle East figures were scheduled before Nixon’s resignation from the Presidency.

(Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin told his Cabinet in Jerusalem today that no date has been set for his proposed visit to Washington. Israeli officials said they expected it to take place in Sept. or Oct., shortly after Foreign Minister Yigal Allon goes to New York to attend the opening of the United Nations General Assembly)

Arab leaders reportedly have expressed concern over the transition of power because Ford, when he was the Republican leader in the House, frequently made speeches on behalf of Israel and, like most Congressmen, supported a strong Israel. But sources here said his aides have insisted that this did not rule out efforts by Ford for a Middle East settlement and the continued improvement of U.S. ties with the Arab world. The new White House Press Secretary, Jerald TerHorst, said Friday, “The President, along with Secretary Kissinger underlines the continuity of bi-partisan American foreign policy.”

GENERAL PEACE TALKS A TOPIC

Fahmy is due here tomorrow to start another round of Middle East peace talks with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and may also confer with Ford. The talks are expected to focus on the resumption of the Geneva peace conference and Israeli territorial withdrawals. The delicate matter of Palestinian representation at the Geneva conference is expected to be one of the subjects discussed, reliable sources said.

Another Issue expected to come up in the talks with Fahmy, and with Hussein who is expected here later in the week, is Jordan’s refusal to attend the Geneva conference without an Israeli agreement to withdraw troops from the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israeli pull-backs were features of the disengagement agreements with Egypt and Syria worked out earlier in the year through the offices of Kissinger.

The visits of Middle East diplomats and leaders this week are part of a continuing dialogue established by Kissinger and former President Nixon during their intensive Middle East diplomacy last spring. Allon and Jordanian Foreign Minister Zaid al-Rifai, were in Washington for talks with Kissinger during the last two weeks.