Rabin to Explore Problem of Mideast Peace in His Meeting with Carter

Premier Yitzhak Rabin said on his departure for Washington early this morning that the purpose of his visit is to explore the basic problems of Middle East peace with the new American Administration which is now in the process of crystallizing its policies and attitudes. He said he would dwell on the search for peace, Israel’s security and continued U.S. economic aid to Israel in his talks with President Carter and other top Administration officials that begin tomorrow morning. (See P.3 for related story from Washington.)

The Premier and Mrs. Rabin departed from Ben Gurion Airport in an E1 A1 jumbo jet. They were seen off by Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, Defense Minister Shimon Peres, Chief of Staff Gen. Mordechai Gur and other dignitaries. Rabin said that in Washington he would seek reaffirmation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s statements when he visited Jerusalem last month that the U.S. will not recognize the PLO as long as the latter does not abandon its Palestinian convention calling for the dismemberment of Israel and accept Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

OTHER ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED

Rabin said he will also raise the question of U.S. intervention on behalf of Soviet and Syrian Jews with American officials. He said he would use the occasion to cement personal relations with President Carter and members of his Cabinet. He said he would not hesitate to discuss the sale of Israel-made Kfir jet fighters to Ecuador, a source of recent friction between Israel and the U.S., but only if the subject was initiated by his hosts.

The Premier said he would not bring up the matter of American opposition to the sale because he wanted to avoid any semblance of a confrontation on his first visit to the Carter White House. However, Rabin told reporters that when Israel asked the U.S. for technical assistance in producing the Kfir, it undertook voluntarily not to sell the aircraft abroad or transfer American know-how to anyone without the specific permission of the U.S.

He said Israel was trying to export the kfir and other military equipment it produces but first it had to convince the Americans that these exports were important to Israel’s economy and the future development of its technology. Rabin hinted that the door was still open to consummating the kfir deal with Ecuador but he refused to elaborate, saying he did not want to raise hopes at this point.

Prior to Rabin’s departure, Allon said on a television interview that Israel would prefer to negotiate an overall peace settlement with the Arabs at this time that would include a solution of the Palestinian problem. But he said Israel was ready to settle for a more modest end of belligerency pacts with its neighbors if they were not prepared yet for a full-fledged peace agreement. He also recalled Vance’s assurances during his recent Mideast visit that the U.S. saw its role as that of a middleman in the region, not the advocate of a peace formula of its own.