Hope Persists, However, That Recall Does Not Mean the End of the Talks

Israelis and Americans attending the Jerusalem peace talks were stunned today by President Anwar Sadat’s sudden recall of the Egyptian delegation. The Egyptians too seemed surprised. The recall was reported and confirmed here only two hours after the joint Israeli-Egyptian political committee held a 20-minute working session and agreed to reconvene at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The joint military committee meeting, due to resume in Cairo tomorrow, has been cancelled according to word from the Egyptian capital. (Late bulletin P. 2.)

Up to the last minute, both sides had indicated that progress was being made and that informal contacts between them had proved productive and would continue. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s spokesman, Hodding Carter, had just finished telling American correspondents that a common declaration of intentions by Israel and Egypt could be expected this Friday when the bombshell from Cairo was broadcast here.

An Egyptian airliner landed at Ben Gurion Airport this evening to pick up the Egyptian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Kaamel. Kaamel visited Premier Menachem Begin at the Prime Minister’s residence shortly before his departure. Egyptian sources here said Sadat was angered by recent statements by Israeli leaders. According to Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency, Sadat has called the Egyptian parliament into session for Saturday to explain his actions.

Zev Heffets, head of the Israel Government Press Office, told reporters tonight “I certainly hope it is not the end of the talks but I am sure it is not the end of the negotiating process.” Carter said he had no immediate explanation for the recall. He said he did not know if it would affect Vance’s plans to go to Cairo Friday for a previously scheduled meeting with Sadat.

As the Egyptians departed, bag and baggage, from the Jerusalem Hilton Hotel, Vance told reporters: “The talks have not broken down. I’ve seen this happen many times in negotiations. The Egyptian delegation is going back home for consultations.” Vance said he would be meeting with Begin tomorrow and would fly to Cairo as planned Friday to talk with Sadat.

ANGRY BLAST FROM CAIRO

The announcement from Cairo was followed by an angry blast at Israel by the Egyptian Information Minister, Moneim el-Sawi. He said on a Cairo radio broadcast that Sadat decided to recall the Egyptian delegation because Israel was offering only “partial solutions which cannot lead to a permanent and just peace:” He declared that Sadat had made it clear from the start that his peace initiative was based on full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

Sawi said that if the Jewish people were once dispersed from their land and spread all over the world, that was no cause to subjugate the Palestinians and keep them under occupation. He also declared that the narrowness of Israel’s borders was no justification for the creation of permanent tension along the borders under the pretext of self-defense.

Meanwhile, there were reports from Cairo tonight that the Israeli staff attached to the joint military committee was confined to its hotel.

U.S. HAD PRESENTED COMPROMISE PROPOSALS

It was believed that the delegations were given the American compromise proposals at today’s meeting and had adjourned to study them. Carter had told reporters that the U.S. “suggestions” concerned the first item on the political committee agenda, a “statement of principles” which, it was hoped, would emerge from the Jerusalem talks.

The American compromise was reportedly focused on one of the two most serious obstacles–the Palestinian issue. Informed Egyptian sources had indicated that if that issue was resolved, the other major issue, Israeli settlements in Sinai, somehow would be settled. The U.S. plan was said to envision an interim period akin to Begin’s offer of self-rule to the West Bank and Gaza Strip Arabs that would not exclude the possibility of eventual self-determination for them.

There was much speculation here as to what had prompted Sadat to call the Egyptian delegation home. The wide gulf between the Israeli and Egyptian positions on the Palestinians and the Sinai settlements had been there from the start of the talks and there had been hard-line statements on both sides.

Some analysts here offered the view that Sadat’s move was a signal to Israel that he was prepared to break off negotiations altogether unless Israel was more forthcoming with concessions. They also noted that Sadat had also, by his move, shown Israel how easy it would be to break off negotiations if pushed too hard.

BEGIN MEETS WITH EGYPTIAN EDITORS

Begin tried to explain to eight leading Egyptian editors this morning why Israel cannot give up its settlements in the occupied territories and why it cannot accept the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank. Begin received his guests in the Cabinet room of the Knesset. They included Mussa Sabri, editor of Akhbar El Yom, the largest Cairo daily; Ali Hamdi Gamal, editor of the semi-official Al Ahram; and Ms. Tamadour Tewfik, director general of Egyptian television.

Begin also sought to clarify the reason why he used the occasion of a dinner he gave last night for the delegates to the joint political committee to remonstrate with Kaamel. He told the journalists that he felt he had to respond to certain points in Kaamel’s opening speech before the political committee yesterday in which the Egyptian diplomat said there could be no “real peace” unless Palestinian aspirations were satisfied and Israel withdrew from oil occupied Arab territory including Arab Jerusalem.

But Begin’s sharp words at the dinner where Kaamel and Vance were the guests of honor, Aston ished many Israelis and Americans present and clearly embarrassed the Egyptians. Among other things, he referred to Kaamel, 50, as “a young man” who did not know that “self-determination” had been misused in Europe and was one of the causes of World War II.

He reiterated an oft-used Israeli argument that the Palestinians did not need a state of their own because their national identity was taken care of by the existence of 21 Arab states. He said that as far as he was concerned, there could be no peace if Israel was forced to return to the “aggression-provoking lines” of 1967.

Kaamel responded by saying that he had thought the dinner was to be a purely social occasion and was disappointed that Begin made a political speech. He said he could only reiterate that the elements necessary for peace were those he had enumerated in his opening speech to the political committee.

At his meeting with the Egyptian editors this morning, Begin did not change his arguments but softened his words. He received the journalists warmly and asked for a relaxation of tensions on both sides. He said he made the same appeal to the Israeli media.

Begin insisted that no Israeli government could take a decision to dismantle Jewish settlements, not only because of personal attachments but because the national consensus in Israel would not permit it. He noted that he was under attack by some opposition members of the Knesset for giving away too much and repeated that if Israel’s offers on Sinai were rejected, it might have to review its entire peace plan.

The Premier rejected Egypt’s demand for self-determination for the Palestinians. “Self-determination means an independent Palestinian state which, in turn, means permanent bloodshed as 19 years of experience has shown,” he said. Begin cited several national minorities that have never achieved self-determination. He mentioned the Walloons in Belgium and the Kurds in Iraq. Israel has frequently denounced Iraq for oppressing the Kurds. He told the Egyptians that “Egypt herself had never suggested autonomy for the Gaza Strip.”