Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil’s meetings at the White House and State Department tomorrow are not expected to solve the impasse between Egypt and Israel on the peace treaty they are negotiating with the participation of the United States.
The Egyptian Embassy told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Khalil will leave Washington Saturday for Europe and return to Cairo before the Nobel Prizes are awarded in Oslo to President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin. However, the Embassy declined to disclose where Khalil will stop in Europe. It was said he would be visiting five Western European countries in an effort to acquire their diplomatic support for Sadat’s latest position on the Egyptian-Israeli treaty draft and convey to them the American reaction.
Informed opinion speculated that Khalil’s presentations here will not be sufficient to bridge the gaps opened by Egypt both in the Camp David accords and in the treaty articles already approved by Egypt in the Blair House talks.
VAGUE ON WEAPONS TO MIDEAST
Meanwhile, the Carter Administration took a vague position publicly an its policy of transfer of weapons to the Middle East during the current fiscal year. In announcing his ceiling of $8.43 billion on the total value of American arms that could be sold to nations not allied with the U.S., President Carter made no mention of Israel or any other Middle East country by name.
His statement that announced a reduction of arms exports for the second straight year, carried the sentence: “This cut is consistent with our national security interest including our historic interest in the security of the Middle East.”
When the White House was asked about this sentence, it said that “there is nothing new” in the U.S. policy towards Israel and that the statement “reiterates” the U.S. position of last May when the arms policy also was set forth. “We remain in our position on the security of the State of Israel,” a spokesman said.
In the last two years, the Administration set forth a program of $1 billion in aid to Israel for each year. In the coming year, it is understood that the U.S. is prepared to provide a military allotment for the first time for Egypt. What it will propose for Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey remains to be seen.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
