Kissinger Pledges U.S. Would ‘never Knowingly’ Sacrifice Israel to Big Power Politics

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger left for Egypt this afternoon following a day-and-a-half of intensive talks with Israeli leaders which both sides stressed were of an “exploratory” nature involving no decisions on the elements of a second stage Israeli-Egyptian agreement in Sinai. The Secretary will return here tomorrow, hopefully with Egypt’s response to Israel’s latest views.

Down-to-earth hard bargaining is expected to begin through diplomatic contacts once Kissinger is back in Washington. But the time for decisions and negotiations will not come until the Secretary’s next visit to the Middle East, probably beginning March 10, Israeli sources said. (See related story P. 3)

Attending a gala dinner given in his honor by Foreign Minister Yigal Allon at the King David Hotel last night and televised live. Kissinger pledged in a toast that the U.S. would “never knowingly sacrifice Israel” to the considerations of Big Power politics. “In a world where a great power sacrifices a small power, its integrity and ultimately its security is jeopardized as well.” Kissinger declared. He asked Israel for “an act of faith,” but did not elaborate.

He said the current negotiations were an attempt to strike a balance between “tangible territories and the intangibles of legitimacy, acceptance and desire for peace.” The Secretary said there had been no differences in his talks with Israeli leaders, which began immediately after his arrival Monday night and continued through most of Tuesday. If any differences do arise, he said, they would be “in the nature of a family quarrel–loud and noisy but we always know when it starts that it’s going to get settled.”

NOTHING DECISIVE BEFORE MARCH

Israeli policy-makers, awaiting their second round of talks with Kissinger after his return from Cairo tomorrow night, know that the Secretary does not intend to press either Israel or Egypt at this stage to soften their respective positions or to make any new decisions.

The deliberate pace of Kissinger’s current diplomacy–in contrast to his whirlwind diplomacy a year ago that resulted in the disengagement accords with Egypt and Syria–seemed to surprise the Israeli negotiating team. They had predicted tough bargaining and perhaps the need for a decision when Kissinger returns tomorrow. But now they know that nothing decisive will occur before March when the Secretary is due to return here. No special Cabinet session will be called this week, officials told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today.

FEW REAL DIFFERENCES OF OPINION

One Israeli negotiator said there were few real differences of opinion during yesterday’s talks with Kissinger, but what he described as “just an occasional flexing of muscles by each side.” Another official said that the Israeli negotiators had adhered throughout to the guidelines laid down by the Cabinet involving the possibility of a 30-50 kilometer Israeli pull-back in Sinai in exchange for substantial political concessions from Cairo.

But he agreed that various possible scenarios were discussed and that Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s ABC-TV interview, broadcast Monday in the U.S., was referred to. In it, Rabin proposed ceding the Mitle and Gidi passes and the Abu Rodeis oil fields to Egypt in return for a formal declaration of non-belligerency from Egypt.

The official said that Kissinger left Israel well equipped to answer detailed questions on Israel’s position by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on any hypothetical set of conditions. He said that the talks with Kissinger were mainly an Israeli exposition of its position to which the Secretary listened carefully and posed many detailed questions. But he ventured no American assessment and would not speculate on what the Egyptian reaction might be on any issue.

U.S. DOES NOT INTEND TO RECOGNIZE PLO

The Israeli side was gratified by a “categorical” statement from Kissinger at a luncheon meeting at Premier Rabin’s home yesterday that the U.S. does not intend to recognize or to have any contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Kissinger also said that he would regard the establishment of a Palestinian state in the area as a harmful factor.