Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, back from a 12-day trip of intensive diplomacy in the Middle and Far East, has scratched two items from his calendar for the time being and added a new one in his quest for an Arab-Israeli settlement. His latest idea is reported to be a step-by-step negotiating process between the Middle East combatants that will be culminated with a Soviet-American guarantee. Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin discussed the U.S. initiative for an hour yesterday at the White House. The Soviet government, it was said, is not opposed to the initiative which is understood to be based on Security Council Resolution 242 with some nuances to sweeten it for Israel. The timing of the process is also understood to be a major factor, with Kissinger anxious for swift movements by Israelis and Arabs, especially Israelis, so that the world energy crisis may be ameliorated quickly by a resumption of oil flow from the Middle East.
One of the items put aside temporarily is the mid-December Arab-Israel conference slated for Geneva under UN auspices. American sources have pointed out that the Israeli Knesset elections on Dec. 31 will prevent Premier Golda Meir’s government from making what is now being described here as “the tough, painful, negotiating decisions” ahead of it in the second stage of the Arab-Israeli negotiations.
The second item set aside is Kissinger’s pledge of a month ago to reveal the contents of Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev’s message to President Nixon when the Egyptians and Syrian forces were being routed. That message caused Nixon to alert American military forces around the globe when it seemed Soviet forces would move against Israel to save the Egyptian Third Army from annihilation. The fact that Israel stopped short of a complete military victory along the Suez because of U.S. persuasion is an election factor. American sources now say it would not be useful to reveal the Brezhnev message, described as “brutal and threatening” by some, because that would only exacerbate Soviet-American relations when the superpowers appear to be working together toward a Middle-East settlement.
Meanwhile, Brezhnev and Yugoslav President Tito in a communique have called for the “national rights” of the Palestinian Arabs to be incorporated into the settlement process. Previously these pro-Arab nations spoke of the Palestinian “legitimate rights.” Their new phrase indicates possibilities of a crystallization of ideas for some kind of territorial state for the Palestinians and a role for them in the Israel-Arab conference as a national entity. This idea is considered here as a possible element in the Kissinger negotiating process. At a news conference expected Tuesday or Wednesday, Kissinger doubtlessly will be asked about all these attitudes and his attitude to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which is being driven by French Foreign Minister Michel Jobert to take a stand against what he called superpower domination in the Arab-Israeli dispute. (J.Polakoff)
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