Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned here that the Camp David agreement, in any form of interpretation, reduces Israel’s influence in the West Bank because the accords include no provisions for any change of the 1967 borders. Addressing a World Jewish Congress luncheon at the Pierre Hotel last Thursday, Kissinger said the United States and Israel must achieve a private understanding as to where the process of peace in the Middle East is heading.
Kissinger said he believes the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt will be concluded “in the near future,” and he predicted that it will create a new reality and bring a political and spiritual change in the Mideast. He cautioned that the Israelis should be careful in their expectation from peace with Egypt. He said a mechanism should be established between the two countries that will be compatible “with the self-respect and the image of themselves.” He also said that Israelis should refrain from the romantic notion of peace and realize that a peace treaty is not the end of any political conflict.
PEACE WILL CHANGE ISRAEL’S ROLE
But Kissinger said that he was optimistic that “things will work out in the Middle East.” He noted that peace will present a tremendous psychological and spiritual change for Israel. He declared Israel’s role in the Mideast will change altogether when peace comes, when Israel will no longer be a political focal point.
Kissinger also warned that the unstable situation in Iran jeopardized the Israeli-Egyptian peace prospects. He said the turmoil in Iran could create a new geo-political situation in the Mideast which would affect directly the prospects of a settlement.
Abba Eban, former Israeli Foreign Minister, at an earlier session, revealed he had held talks in Washington in recent days with the heads of the Israeli and Egyptian delegations. Eban said he was convinced that a peace treaty would emerge from the negotiations despite some complex issues that remain to be resolved. “Israel at peace with the Arab world,” Eban declared, “is existentially different from an Israel in permanent conflict with its regional environment. We shall have an Israel smaller in physical size but greater in creative power and with larger field in which to deploy its resources of intellect and spiritual depth.”
The WJCongress meeting marked the inauguration of the organization’s International Economic and Social Commission. Baron Guy de Rothschild was installed, at the luncheon session, as chairman of the Commission.
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