The Cabinet met today in its concluding session before the forthcoming Camp David session, and unanimously decided that the Israeli delegation will work towards achieving a comprehensive agreement with Egypt. No alternatives to Israel’s peace plan will be submitted at the summit meeting.
Following the Cabinet session, Premier Menachem Begin told reporters that Israel’s delegation to Camp Davis will work towards achieving a comprehensive agreement with Egypt, will present its peace plan to Egypt in the hopes of signing a peace treaty and will work towards the continuation of negoations between the two parties. “I don’t want to think of failure,” said Begin about the summit. “We are going with good will and open-mindedness concerning all proposals submitted to us.”
The II-man delegation to the summit will include Begin, Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, as well as other specialists involved in the drafting of Israel’s proposal, including Gen. Avraham Tamir, head of the anmy’s planning b####, and Meir Rosenne, legal advisor at the Foreign Ministry.
YADIN DECIDES TO FOREGO SUMMIT
Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin will not be attending the summit, by his awn decision, and will instead function as Acting Premier and Defense Minister during the absence of the two officials. Interior Minister Yosef Burg will be Acting Foreign Minister.
Yadin had announced his decision last night not to attend the Maryland conference, thus preventing a potential coalition crisis an the part of the National Religious Party (NRP) which demanded that either the delegation be limited to its “three functional representatives” (Premier, Foreign Minister and Defense Minister) or that its faction representative, Burg, accompany Yadin to Camp David.
Yadin insisted that the decision to remain in Israel during the summit was his own, and that it was taken independently of NRP pressure on Begin. However, the fierce opposition displayed by t he NRP to his inclusion in the delegation would have rendered government approval of it too great a risk to take. Thus, despite Begin’s approval of Yadin in the Israeli Camp David delegation, it is assumed he decided against going in order to prevent a governmental vote opposing his inclusion in the delegation.
Yadin, meanwhile, noted in an Israel Radio interview, that Israeli is going to Camp David to discuss in depth Israel’s peace plan for the first time with Egypt. He added that there will be no discussion of tactical steps to be taken by Israel or potential good will gestures on Israel’s part. If such an issue does come up, he noted, it would have to be discussed at a later date in the Cabinet.
It was revealed that on Friday, Weizman told Begin that he preferred not to attend the Camp David summit, since his Egyptian counterpart, Gen. Mohammed Gamassy, is not planning to be present. Begin, however, declined to accept Weizman’s offer and emphasized the importance of his attendance at the summit.
Begin met over the weekend with the American Ambassador to Israel, Samuel Lewis, who left today for the U.S. to prepare for the summit. Begin and Lewis discussed in depth the American government’s latest evaluations concerning the meeting.
YARIV WARNS AGAINST FAILURE
Meanwhile, Gen. (Res.) Aharon Yariv, former intelligence chief and presently head of the Institute of Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, warned this weekend that unless Israel arrives at some agreement with the Egyptians at the Camp David talks there is a possibility that the situation between Israel and Egypt could deteriorate to a point where war would loom on the horizon.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Yariv said he is hopeful that since Begin, Sadat and President Carter are keenly interested in having a successful summit conference, there will be greater motivation in overcoming difficulties and a better chance of agreeing on a declaration of principles that will enable Israel and Egypt to continue their negotiations.
In a related summit conference development, the opening date for the summit may be pushed up from Sept. 5 to Sept. 6 because president Anwar Sadat of Egypt will be in Paris on Sept. 5 conferring with French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing. According to French and Egyptian sources, Sadat, who will be arriving in Paris Sept. 4, wants to have a last-minute consultation with Giscard to ascertain whether Western Europe and especially the nine-member European Economic Community will support Egypt should the summit talks fail.
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