Hopes High That Syria Will Renew Undof Mandate; Syrian Pressure Seen As Move for Overall Solution

Hopes wore still high here today that Syria would finally consent to a renewal of the UNDOF mandate, due to expire Sunday. But observers predicted severely stepped-up Syrian pressure in the coming weeks–especially in the Security Council–for an overall solution involving the Palestine Liberation Organization in some form, Israeli officials say what Syria is in effect aiming at is an imposed solution enforced by the Security Council.

The first step would be to engineer a change in the texts of Resolutions 242 and 338 so as to in-corporate reference to the Palestinians’ national rights, Syria is expected to urge this at the up-coming Council session due either tomorrow or Saturday. Syria also intends to press the Council to invite a PLO representation to state its case before the Council, just as the General Assembly invited and heard PLO chief Yasir Arafat and as a result granted observer status to the PLO.

(At the United Nations in New York, Israel’s Ambassador, Chaim Herzog, who returned there last night from Israel where he participated in talks with Secretary General Kurt Waldheim on the fate of UNDOF, met this morning with Soviet Ambassador Yakov Malik, who is this month’s president of the Security Council. A spokesman for Herzog emphasized that Herzog met Malik in the latter’s capacity as president of the Security Council. They reportedly discussed the renewal of the UNDOF mandate.

(Herzog also met today with other permanent members of the Security Council on the issue of UNDOF’s mandate. The Council is expected to meet either tomorrow or Saturday to vote on the mandate. It is believed at the UN that Syria will agree at the last moment for a limited extension of the force for a period of two or three months.)

SYRIA BITTER ABOUT EGYPT

Officials here were frankly taken aback by recent evidence of the depth of Syrian feeling against Egypt. This depth of feeling has apparently taken U.S. State Department analysts by surprise, too. But now it is apparent that Syria is just not interested, at this time, in an interim accord, Damascus intends rather to exploit Egypt’s “betrayal” in order to capture for itself the leadership role in the Arab world as the faithful protector of the Palestinians.

Hence Syria is expected to shun any interim settlement prospects and press relentlessly for a reopening by the Security Council of the entire Mideast issue. This is the immediate prospect: though once the UNDOF mandate is renewed the vista might change again. Conceivably, Damascus, having played out its hand exploiting the delicacy of the pre-renewal situation, will then indicate that it is after all ready to consider an interim accord. This is conceivable–but the experts here now feel it is unlikely. Apparently, Washington feels the same way–hence Secretary of State Henry A, Kissinger’s quiet reassessment, together with a number of his Mideast envoys and experts, of possible alternatives. Observers believe Kissinger will try again to promote his “informal conference” idea, though there can be no guarantee that the Syrians, in their present uncompromising and ultra-hardline mood, would be willing to attend such a conference.