Unofficial reaction to the Joint communique on the Middle East issued today at the Moscow summit talks was one of satisfaction in Israel and despair in the Arab states. The absence of any substantive agreement between the superpowers was welcomed by political observers here but decried by Arab commentators as a sign that the Middle East issue is of secondary importance to the US and the USSR alike. (See separate story from Moscow on Jarring.)
The superpowers have apparently decided to let the Israelis and Arabs settle their conflict among themselves, Israeli observers said. They noted that the Moscow communique contained only two major points–continued support by the US and the USSR of Resolution 242 and of the Jarring mission.
SEEK TO AVOID CONFRONTATION
The observers pointed out that Resolution 242, the Security Council’s resolution on the Middle East of Nov. 22, 1967, has been accepted by virtually all parties although it is interpreted in different ways by the Israelis and Arabs and their respective backers. But the question of interpretation did not arise in the Moscow communique and it appears, therefore, that nothing of substance was decided at the summit conference on this matter, observers here said.
It was noted that the superpowers’ wish to avoid a confrontation over the Middle East may deter the Arabs who look to war as a solution. However, the main deterrent is based on the arms balance in the region and the balance must remain intact and be redressed immediately should it shift, Israelis said. They noted that no spheres of influence seem to have been established in the Mideast between the US and the Soviet Union. Some Arab countries are regarded as a “gray area” with no sharp delineation of American or Soviet influence. It is likely, therefore, that the Russians will continue to try to extend their influence in the area and the question remains how the US will react, Israeli sources said.
EGYPT FEELS ISOLATED
Egypt appears to have held only small hope for advantage from the summit conference as early as President Anwar Sadat’s last visit to Moscow a month ago. But even the faint spark of optimism was abandoned in light of today’s communique from Moscow. Egyptian commentators spoke today of Egypt’s isolation. They observed that Moscow’s failure to call off the summit meeting after Nixon’s orders to mine and blockade the harbors of North Vietnam indicated that the Soviets were looking after their own interests and not those of their “client” states.
Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, editor of the influential Cairo daily, A1 Ahram, wrote today that the Middle East occupies a secondary position in the calculations of the Big Powers. The danger, he noted, is that the present deadlock will continue. This means that the Arabs will be left to themselves in the struggle and they alone will have to solve the conflict with Israel, Heikal wrote.
Some Jordanian newspapers speculated that King Hussein’s recently proposed plan for a federation of the West and East banks of the Jordan may have come up during the summit talks. But most Jordanian commentators said that Arabs should not attach much importance to the summit. Commentators in Libya said the talks in Moscow could not help the Arab cause in any way. The Libyans maintained that the only way to liberate the occupied Arab territories was by war. The same position was taken by the Cairo-based E1 Fatah radio.
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