Mrs. Meir: Downing of Airliner Will Have No Bearing on Talks with Nixon

Premier Golda Meir left for the United States aboard an El Al plane this morning. She told reporters at the airport that “The downing of the Libyan airliner will have no bearing on my talks with President Nixon.” (Mrs. Meir is scheduled to arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington late this afternoon.)

After shaking hands with officials who came to the airport to bid her goodby and wish her good luck, the Premier said to reporters, “I have nothing to tell you now. When I return I’ll tell you everything.” Mrs. Meir is accompanied on her trip to Washington by Simha Dinitz, director general of the Prime Minister’s Office who is her political advisor and Israel’s Ambassador-designate to the U.S.; her military aide; Gen. Israel Lior; and her personal secretary, Mrs. Lou Kedar.

Most observers here expressed optimism over the chances of success for Mrs. Meir’s visit and expressed hope that the Americans would not allow the Libyan airliner tragedy to cloud her discussions with the President and other top officials. The feeling here is that Nixon will not press Israel to accept specific proposals for a Mideast solution but will nonetheless advocate flexibility by Israel that might lead to a settlement.

There is widespread hope here that Washington will accept Israel’s contention that the next move is up to Egypt since Jerusalem has already responded favorably to the U.S. initiative for proximity talks aimed at a partial Suez settlement while Cairo has not.

The visit to Washington last week of Hafez Ismail, President Anwar Sadat’s internal security advisor, has in no way altered the Middle East situation, observers here believe. They see no change in either the Egyptian or the American positions resulting from Ismail’s talk with President Nixon last Friday. But they did not rule out the possibility that Nixon may now be in a position to divulge some previously undisclosed Egyptian proposal for a partial settlement.

Some observers believe it is possible that Israel has agreed to a Washington formula whereby both sides could accept a partial Suez settlement. That formula would define a partial settlement as “an important step toward the fulfillment of Resolution 242.” It would thus sidestep Egypt’s insistence on linking a partial agreement to an Israeli commitment to total withdrawal from the Sinai and would obviate Israel’s necessity to make such a commitment.