Gen. Mordechai Gur, the Chief of Staff of Israel’s armed forces, said today that Egypt still has not rectified all of the violations Israel says it has made of the second interim Sinai agreement “We shall continue dealing with these but in a quiet, delicate manner if we want results.” Gur said in an address to the student body of the Haifa Technion.
He warned that “cries do not always bear fruit and a loud word is not always the right one.” He said that Egypt has withdrawn the three missile launching sites it had established east of the Suez Canal in violation of the September, 1975 Sinai accord. However, there is still a dispute over Israel’s charge that the Egyptians have 17 battalions in their limited forces zone, more than double the number allowed by the Sinai agreement.
This matter is high on the agenda of Israel’s discussions with the UN observer force, it was learned from reliable sources. American sources say the Egyptian battalions number 12, still in excess of the permitted number but UN observers claim there are only eight Egyptian battalions and hence no violation.
Gur said that militarily. Egypt has not developed since the Yom Kippur War except for absorbing Soviet MIG-23s Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is becoming an unprecedented arsenal of sophisticated weapons, the Chief of Staff said. He said Jordan has no anti-aircraft missiles as yet.
SADAT WANTS U.S. WEAPONS
Meanwhile, according to reports reaching here, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat told a group of visiting U.S. Congressmen in Cairo, headed by Rep. Lester Wolff (D.NY), that he planned to ask the U.S. for defensive weapons against Israel. “I will not ask for offensive weapons,” he is quoted as saying, but wanted “defensive weapons to defend my country” in case Israel contemplated an attack.
Sadat also told the Congressmen that he would urge President-elect Jimmy Carter to give top priority to solving the Middle East conflict when he takes office. He called on Carter to offer an American initiative for both Egypt and Israel by next spring when the new administration will have had time to study the Middle East problem thoroughly. “We as friends will reserve the right to agree or disagree to all or parts of the proposed initiative. Israel will also do the same until we finally reach a decision,” Sadat said.
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