In Knesset Speeches Carter, Be Gin Stress Peace but Express Starkly Different Perceptions of How to

President Carter and Premier Menachem Begin addressed the Knesset this morning in speeches that proclaimed their unremitting desire to bring the Israeli-Egyptian peace process to a successful conclusion but mode starkly evident their different perceptions of how this can be achieved.

The President said he valued the “enormous sacrifices and great risks for peace” that Israel has already made but declared, “We have not yet fully met our challenge, despite our unflagging determination . . . . We still fall short.” He urged Israel to undertake “the somber responsibility . . . to contemplate the tragedy of failure and the legitimate exaltation of making peace.”

Begin, referring repeatedly to “serious problems” and “serious issues and difficult problems” that must be solved, stressed that Israel would never compromise its security for a peace treaty that is not “a real peace ” and “can be broken.”

He declared: “We have to care for the security and future of our people. This is our responsibility. We shall carry it out under any circumstances. Never again should a foul or bloodthirsty enemy be capable of killing Jewish children and we shall do whatever is humanly possible to make their life secure, not only in this generation but for all generations to come, in this land of our forefathers.”

AROUND THE CLOCK MEETINGS

The speeches, before a packed special session of the Knesset followed a grueling all-night Cabinet meeting that ended in the early hours of this morning with decisions, undisclosed, that appeared to put the stamp of failure on Carter’s current mission to remove the obstacles blacking an Israeli-Egyptian treaty But a series of developments late in the day revived hopes that the President’s exhausting personal efforts might not be entirely fruitless.

A weary Cabinet, meeting again for two hours this afternoon, adjourned at 5 p. m. local time and summoned the American delegation, headed by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance for a further meeting. The President remained at his hotel . Begin emerged from that meeting to announce that “very great progress” has been made, “the progress is fundamental. ” He said a joint U.S. -Israeli statement would be issued later. It was announced that Carter, who earlier had postponed his departure from Israel for two hours, decided to remain in Jerusalem overnight.

Even before the Cabinet went into its marathon session late last night, hopes were slim that it would assent to changes proposed by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt to Carter’s peace treaty proposals which Israel accepted a week ago. At a festive State dinner at the Knesset last night honoring the President and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, the President expressed confidence that once “a few remaining differences” were solved, the signing of an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty would be imminent But a somber Begin contradicted him. “Here and now it is my duty to say that we have serious problems to solve until we can sign the peace treaty,” he said, a remark that visibly shook the President.

CRITICISM OF ISRAEL’S, EGYPT’S LEADERSHIP

Carter received a warm reception in the Knesset but there was no applause during his speech. At the outset he told the Knesset that for the past 24 hours he had been drafting different versions of his speech. “I have discarded the speech of despair. I have discarded the speech of glad tidings and celebration. I have decided to deliver the speech of concern and caution and hope,” the President said.

In what was widely viewed as a thinly veiled criticism of the leadership of Israel and Egypt for delaying a treaty for so long, Carter said: “The people of the two nations are ready now for peace.” He repeated that sentence, saying, however, that “The leaders have not yet proven that we are also ready for peace, enough to take a chance. We must persevere but with or without a peace treaty, the United States will always be at Israel’s side.” Carter’s use of the editorial “we” and his general reference to “leaders” was seen as Intended to soften the criticism most observers believe was directed primarily at Begin.

CARTER PLEDGES SECURITY FOR ISRAEL

“The treaty between Egypt and Israel that we hope may be placed before you for approval

We all recognize this structure will be in complete until the peace can be extended to include all the people who have been involved in the conflict I know, and I understand the concerns you feel as you consider the magnitude of the choices that will remain to be faced even after a peace treaty is concluded between Israel and Egypt. And as-the time for these choices approaches. remember this pledge I make to you again today the United States will never support any agreement or any action that places Israel’s security in jeopardy.”

Carter recalled that at Camp David, Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat forged two frame works for the building of that comprehensive peace. The genius of that accomplishment is that negotiations under the frameworks can go forward independently of each other without destroying the obvious relationship between them.”

The President observed, “They are designed to be mutually reinforcing with the intrinsic flexibility necessary to promote the comprehensive peace that we all desire Both will be fulfilled only when others of your Arab neighbors follow the visionary example of President Sadat, when they put ancient animosities behind them and agree to negotiate, as you desire, as you have already done with President Sadat, an honorable solution to the differences between you.”

Carter said “it is important that the door be kept open to all the parties in the conflict, including the Palestinians with whom above all, Israel shares a common interest in living in peace and living with mutual respect.”

Carter acknowledged that “the risks of peace between you and your Egyptian neighbors are real. But America is ready to reduce any risks and to balance them within the bound of our strength and our influence. I came to Israel representing the most powerful country on earth And I can assure you that the United States in tends to use that power in the pursuit of a stable and peaceful Middle East.”

BEGIN ‘WE WANT A REAL PEACE TREATY’

Begin, who mounted the podium after Carter’s address, was subjected to severe heckling from die-hard members of his own Likud coalition who are opposed to a treaty with Egypt and from left-wing elements. The shouts and cat-calls continued as he delivered his address and one MK was erected from the chamber. (See separate story.) Although the Knesset’s Steering Committee had authorized Begin to respond to Carter in English, the Premier delivered his speech in Hebrew with simultaneous translation by earphone.

The Premier stressed: “We want a real peace treaty. It must be real: It cannot last a few months or even a few years. It must last for generations, actually forever. Therefore, we must care for its wording because it has to be clear that this is going to be a real peace. And with the peace must come security. Therefore, we cannot and we shall not put under jeopardy and danger our civilian population. We shall defend it under any circumstances, even with our lives it necessary as we have done.”

Begin reiterated that “a peace treaty is not a scrap of paper. A peace treaty is, as it must be, a serious document which should be carried out. It can be broken by cynics, by enemies of peace, by enemies of mankind. But, of course, our nation, with our experience, cannot be asked to sign any document which would make legitimate a breach of the peace treaty. Therefore, we have problems.”

SERIOUS PROBLEMS TO SOLVE

The Premier asserted: “I will tell our peoples the truth, here and now, and therefore it is my duty to say that we have serious problems to solve {SPAN}###{/SPAN} we can sign the peace treaty with Egypt–and we want so much to have this serious document signed. And today we dealt with the serious problems,” a reference to the Cabinet meeting.

“We only hope we shall be able to solve them, Begin said. “But there are serious issues and different problems. This is what it is my duty to say, at this juncture, at this moment. Hopefully, we shall over come the difficulties and be able to sign the peace treaty–a real peace treaty–between Egypt and Israel as a first step toward a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East.”

Begin insisted, “We wouldn’t like to have a separate smeary with Egypt and have on the eastern and northern fronts a combination of 5600 lanks and more than 6000 heavy guns, more than a thousand fighting first-line planes, etc. It’s a great danger to us.”

He acknowledged that Israel could not force its other neighbors to negotiate with it. But, he said, “In God’s time they will, I believe with all my heart. In God’s good time. Until then, of course, the peace treaty with Egypt is the first step and it must be a real document.”

PERES FOCUSES ON PALESTINIANS

Shimon Peres, chairman of the Labor Party, who addressed the Knesset on behalf of the opposition, surprised the chamber and many of his Labor colleagues when he called for a “positive understanding” with the Palestinian Arabs. Responding to President Carter, he declared, “We are aware that the Egyptian leaders to whom you have just spoken are concerned with the future of the still unresolved Palestinian issue, So are me.”

The Labor movement, he said, “has and will continue to support a full and fair dialogue with Palestinian leaders who recognize Israel’s statehood who would show a readiness to negotiate a permanent peace and who would understand that mutual compromise is necessary to gain a just peace.”

It was learned that the advance text of Peres address created discord within the Labor Party leadership and he was forced to bow to the demands of party hawks to delete the phrase “just rights of the Palestinians,” Peres, like Begin, was interrupted many times during his speech by angry heckling from extreme right-wing and extreme leftist MKs.

He reiterated his long held view that a settlement of the Palestinian issue can be accomplished only within the framework of negotiations with Jordan. He urged King Hussein to join in the peace process and appealed to moderate Palestinians to participate as well in discussion of their problems with Israel. He acknowledged that while meetings in the post–under Labor-led governments–with Hussein had not produced a treaty, they were not wasted. Their result has been a quiet border and an open border, Peres said.

But he ruled out unequivocally any contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization, “an organization which has written a charter of hatred” and is “connected with a superpower (the Soviet Union) that could contribute to the well-being of the Middle East but which has preferred to feed them with deadly weapons which stimulate their appetite for tenor and death.

MAJOR ISSUES IMPEDING TREATY SIGNING

With the outcome of Carter’s mission still in the balance, observes here noted some of the major issues that are holding up completion of on Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. One of the toughest seems to be the question of an Egyptian presence in the Gaza Strip. Begin agreed during his meetings in Washington a week ago that autonomy should be implemented in the Gaza Strip first. But he rejected the idea of Egyptian police and liaison officers in that territory.

The future of the Gaza Strip is understood to have been a focal issue in Carter’s current talks with the Israelis and may well have been on the agenda of today’s Cabinet session. The issue boils down to the Egyptian desire to assist in the transition to autonomy there and Israel’s suspicion that Cai a ### to re-establish a political presence in the region that was governed by Egypt until 1967.

Two other knotty issues that remain unresolved are the exchange of ambassadors between Israel and Egypt and the question of Israeli access to Sinal oil Israel insists that Egypt commit itself in the peace treaty to supply Israel with oil from the Sinai fields on a preferential basis. Carter raised the oil issue in his Knesset speech, disagreeing with the Israeli view. He explained that the international oil market was flexible and Egypt therefore could not be expected to make long term commitments to Israel.

From Begin’s Knesset speech it appeared that there is substantial agreement between Israel and the U.S. on Article VI, paragraphs 2 and 5 of the draft peace treaty. These concern linkage between autonomy and the treaty and the priority of obligations. There also appeared to be agreement on a proposed side letter accompanying the treaty. According to an understanding reached between the U.S. and Israel, the latter now agrees to a 12-month target date for the conclusion of negotiations over autonomy which would be implemented “expeditiously.”