Israel, Egypt and the U.S. opened another round of talks in Jerusalem today on the multinational force and on observers scheduled to police the peace in the Sinai after Israel’s final withdrawal next April. The venue — Jerusalem — was considered significant because in the past, Egypt has refused to conduct official negotiations in Jerusalem.
The Egyptian refusal applied, to these talks, too — until President Anwar Sadat acceded to Premier Menachem Begin’s request at the Ophira summit last Thursday that the talks be held in Jerusalem.
The Egyptian Chief Delegate, Taha Shasha, began the session with a public statement to the effect that the presence of his team in Jerusalem “should not be construed as affecting the well-known and firm Egyptian stand on Jerusalem. We consider that all unilateral actions and laws taken by Israel with a view to altering the status of Jerusalem are null and void. They will not affect the final status of the holy city. Arab Jerusalem remains part of the West Bank occupied by Israel. It is therefore subject to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.”
Israel’s chief delegate, David Kimche, director general of the Foreign Ministry, opened his remarks with a reference to the sensitivities felt by both sides on the matter of Jerusalem.
On the multinational force, he said it would serve as an effective safety valve through which disputes concerning the Sinai demilitarization arrangements could be ventilated.
The U.S. team is headed by State Department senior aide Michael Sterner, who has said he hopes this present round, due to go on until Friday, will see the conclusion of an agreement on the force mandate.
The three teams include military and legal experts who are working on the details of the force’s deployment, its functions, and the privileges and immunities it will have.
Among countries mentioned as possible participants in the force, alongside the U.S., are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Fiji, Nepal, Argentina, and Italy.
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