Report Syria May Have Discarded More Extreme Disengagement Demands

Israeli sources said last night that the Syrians did not automatically reject Israel’s latest disengagement map and were prepared to regard it as a basis for further negotiations. The sources made that comment in explanation of an earlier statement by Robert Anderson, a spokesman for Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, that the Israeli government and Kissinger were in agreement that some progress had been made in Kissinger’s talks with Syrian leaders in Damascus yesterday.

Anderson cautioned, however, “We are still not near an agreement.” He made his remarks after a three-hour working dinner of the Israeli and American negotiating teams that ended shortly before midnight. The session followed a private meeting between Kissinger and Premier Golda Meir in Tel Aviv which began immediately on Kissinger’s return from Damascus.

Cautious optimism was also expressed by Foreign Minister Abba Eban and Information Minister Shimon Peres after last night’s meetings. Peres said he had received the impression from Kissinger that some progress had been made, though it was too early to judge whether the necessary conditions have been established for reaching a disengagement accord. “We are at the beginning of the road and still have a long way to go,” Peres said.

He said the size of the gap separating Israeli and Syrian views on disengagement would become clearer after further meetings between the Israeli and American negotiators today. Kissinger meanwhile has flown to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to be followed by another visit to Egypt to ascertain the views of King Faisal and President Anwar Sadat.

EXPECT GREATER ISRAELI FLEXIBILITY

Eban said of last night’s meetings: “We heard a full report on the talks in Damascus. We have now reached a very concrete stage, but I still would not make any predictions.” Newsmen deducted from the remarks by American and Israeli officials that the Syrians may have abandoned their more extreme demands that Israel retire from virtually the entire Golan Heights as part of a disengagement agreement. A Kissinger side reportedly told Israeli officials last night that for the first time since the Secretary began his current Mideast mission, the Syrians demonstrated a more rational than irrational attitude.

At the same time, it was stressed here that Israel would under no circumstances go beyond the territorial concessions it gave Dr. Kissinger for conveyance to Damascus yesterday. On the other hand, U.S. officials accompanying Kissinger have indicated they would expect even greater Israeli “flexibility” on the territorial issue.

At a meeting of the Labor Party’s Knesset faction Monday night Premier Golda Meir stated that while she and her negotiators were fully aware of the fears expressed by Golan settlers, there were even greater fears that had to be considered if a disengagement accord with Syria is not reached. She said her anxiety for the settlements’ security was as deep as anyone’s, but there was also anxiety over the absence of disengagement on the Syrian front.

She remarked that the government had two options: To agree to an arrangement on the Golan Heights which would guarantee U.S. understanding of Israel’s case even if it did not gain an agreement with the Syrians; or to demand an arrangement which neither Damascus nor Washington would consider. Eban, who also addressed the faction, said that Israel was “in a phase of coordination with the U.S.” He warned, “If we were to rebuff Kissinger that would cause a rupture with the U.S. and therefore we are talking to him. We have to consider disengagement talks against a general regional background,” the Foreign Minister said.