Kissinger Assures Israel He Came to Discuss Security, Not Concessions

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger arrived in Israel early this morning to begin what is expected to be the most difficult phase of his Middle East diplomacy–negotiation of a disengagement accord between Israel and Syria. Significantly, his first words on landing from a U.S. Air Force jet at Ben Gurion Airport, were aimed at calming Israeli fears that he would bring pressure to bear for concessions inimical to the nation’s security.

“I came here to continue discussions with the government on the same problems of peace and in the same spirit of friendship that characterized our previous discussions,” Kissinger told the hordes of journalists and television reporters at the airport, “I came to discuss not concessions but security. I came not to exert pressure but to attempt to reach lasting peace which this people, courageous and learned of suffering, deserves.”

Foreign Minister Abba Eban, who was at the airport to greet Kissinger and his wife, Nancy, also stressed the bonds of friendship between Israel and the U.S. which he declared were strong enough to overcome differences of opinion. The mutual values shared by both countries will withstand any trials the future may bring, Eban said. The Foreign Minister expressed confidence that Kissinger’s diplomatic skills, backed by American prestige, would be successful in furthering the sought for agreement with Syria.

FEAR OF ‘SELL OUT’ MOUNTS

Whether Kissinger’s assurances and Eban’s confidence will have the desired effects here remains to be seen. A group of demonstrators marched outside the airport gates this morning carrying signs protesting U.S. support of an anti-Israel resolution in the Security Council last week. But there is even greater concern in Israel that the U.S. will try to impose undesirable terms and that the care-taker government is already wavering.

Those fears were spurred by a report in the semi-official Egyptian newspaper Al Abram yesterday that Kissinger is bringing to Israel a four-point disengagement proposal that calls for the return not only of the 300 square miles of Syrian territory captured in the Yom Kippur War but a 10 square mile slice of the Golan Heights, captured in 1967, including the town of Kuneitra, as well. According to one report, members of Kissinger’s entourage who initially denied the Al Ahram story, later admitted that it was substantially correct. Reports that the Israeli government has already agreed to abandon Kuneitra met with sharp denials.

(See separate story P. 3 for Kissinger’s talks in Jerusalem.)

But fear of a “sell out” mounted in Israel and transcended party lines. The Labor Alignment Knesset faction demanded an urgent meeting to discuss government policy in the talks with Kissinger. Labor MK Moshe Shahal warned that the care-taker Cabinet may make decisions before explaining them to the Knesset. Another Labor MK, Uzi Finermann, demanded that the Labor Party hear the views of Golan Heights settlers before any decision is made on the Golan’s future.

Golan settlers sent a cablegram to the National Religious Party that surrender of Kuneitra would presage the elimination of all Israeli settlements on the strategic heights. Likud leader Menachem Beigin, meanwhile, has cut short a visit to the U.S. on behalf of the Israel Bond Organization and will fly home this week. He changed his plans reportedly after receiving an urgent telephone call from Likud colleagues warning that the government was about to yield to American pressures.