A potential crisis between Israel and Egypt was defused over the weekend at a meeting between President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Ben-Elissar in Cairo.
The matter grew out of Premier Menachem Begin’s remark to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Friday that Israel would not complete its withdrawal from Sinai by May, 1982 – the date set in the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty–unless there was prior agreement for the establishment of an international supervisory force to guarantee that the peninsula remains demilitarized.
That declaration triggered an angry reaction in Egypt. Ben-Elissar immediately asked for a meeting with Sadat which was granted yesterday. The Israeli envoy presented a written message from Begin which clarified the Israeli view on the issue and assured Sadat that Israel would continue to fulfill its part of the peace agreement. Sadat, for his part, expressed his “friendship and confidence” in Begin and also voiced the hope that the autonomy talks, which be suspended last month, would be resumed soon.
NEGOTIATIONS MAY RESUME SOON
The Cairo weekly October, which often reflects Sadat’s views, reported today that the negotiations may be resumed this week or early next week.
The meeting with Sadat was Ben-Elissar’s first since he presented his credentials three months ago. The fact that it was held on Saturday posed personal difficulties for the Israeli Ambassador who is observant and therefore walked nearly two miles from his hotel to Sadat’s office. According to Ben-Elissar, the Egyptian leader apologized for setting their meeting on the Jewish Sabbath.
Although a crisis was avoided, the issue of an international force in Sinai poses serious problems which are bound to surface as the time for Israel’s total withdrawal approaches. According to the terms of the peace treaty, during the final stages of withdrawal, small international units will be deployed in the Sharm el-Sheikh region and along the international border to replace Israeli forces.
President Carter assured Begin when the peace treaty was negotiated that it the United Nations Security Council is unable to provide the international supervisory force, the U.S. would take “all necessary steps” to establish an alternative force. It appears unlikely that the Security Council will assume the responsibility. But neither the U.S. nor Egypt has taken any measures so for to arrange an alternative. (By Gil Sedan)
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