Israel Will Not Be Intimidated by Syrian Brinkmanship when Undof Comes Up for Renewal, Rabin Tells K

Premier Yitzhak Rabin told the Knesset today that Israel would not be intimidated by Syrian “brinkmanship” when the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) comes up for renewal May 31. Israel will “oppose any attempt at political blackmail in return for a renewal of the mandate,” Rabin declared in reply to Likud motions.

The Premier also denied flatly Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s statement in Kuwait last week that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had conveyed to him secret pledges by Israel not to attack Syria and to enter negotiations with Syria for an interim accord on the Golan Heights.

According to Sadat, these alleged undertakings by Israel were included in the Sinai interim accord between Israel and Egypt signed last September. Sadat claimed further that the U.S. had pledged to press for the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in future Middle East peace talks. Rabin insisted today that Israel gave no promises, secret or otherwise that would “limit its freedom of decision or action on the Syrian front.” He said anyone who claimed otherwise was lying. He also said Israel knew nothing of any alleged pledge by Kissinger regarding the PLO.

Rabin referred the Knesset to Kissinger’s testimony to the House International Relations Committee last week in which the Secretary declared that all pledges by the U.S. or involving the U.S. that were included in the Sinai interim agreement have been disclosed to Congress and that the U.S. position on the PLO remains unchanged. That position, Kissinger said, was that the U.S. opposed PLO participation in peace talks unless the PLO accepted Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and recognized Israel’s right to exist.

“I do not think it would be wise for me to do more than cite the Secretary’s words,” Rabin said. With respect to Syria, he said Israel was committed only to “peace talks without preconditions” and to examine the prospects for end-of-war or non-belligerence talks.

He warned that if Syria attempted to exploit “world sensitivity” over the UNDOF renewal and try to wrest political advantages from it as it did last November, Israel would assess the situation “quietly and confidently” with the knowledge that it had the military muscle to stand up to Syrian extremism.

AIMED AT WASHINGTON AND DAMASCUS

Rabin’s tough talk was seen by observers to be aimed as much at Washington as at Damascus. Rabin is known to believe that the U.S. was certain last November that Israel was not prepared to risk war on the Golan Heights and therefore could be persuaded to agree to Syrian conditions for renewal of the UNDOF mandate. For that reason, Rabin is said to believe, Washington rejected Israel’s urging that it veto the Security Council’s resolution acceding to Syria’s demand for a Middle East debate to which the PLO was invited.

The debate began Jan. 12 with the PLO participating, a significant diplomatic success for Damascus which Israel does not want repeated. For that reason, sources here said, Rabin is determined to convince the U.S. in advance of the upcoming UNDOF deadline that it is prepared to face down any Syrian threat and even run the risk of renewed hostilities on the Golan Heights rather than accede to another Syrian success at Israel’s expense.

WORDS OF WARNING FOR JORDAN

Rabin had words of warning today for Jordan not to be “led astray” by the Syrians. He also appealed to “those forces in Lebanon who desire even a minimal level of Lebanese independence to consider carefully where Syria stands.” Rabin charged that since Israel’s interim agreement with Egypt, Syria has followed an “extremist policy” trying to establish an eastern front with Jordan and broader Arab support for its hard line. He said Syria’s intervention into the Lebanese civil war was part of Damascus’ overall policy.

Rabin concluded his remarks by warning the opposition factions not to sow artificial panic in Israel “for internal political considerations.” The Likud motion was stricken from the Knesset agenda by a vote of 43-16.