Schlesinger, Dinitz Confer for Two Hours. No Sign of Change in Cool Attitude by U.S. Toward Israel

Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger and Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz, conferred privately for nearly two hours at the Pentagon yesterday, No details of their talk were disclosed but both American and Israeli sources indicated to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency later that there seemed to be no change in the cool attitude the U.S. has adopted toward Israel since the break-down of the Israeli-Egyptian bilateral negotiations conducted by Secretary of State Henry A, Kissinger last month.

A high U.S. official described as an “overstatement” a report published in the New York Times today that Schlesinger had “assured Israel that the Ford Administration’s reassessment of Middle East policies will not diminish continuing American support for Israel’s security.”

U.S. officials, referring to the Schlesinger-Dinitz meeting, said the Defense Secretary only repeated to the Israeli envoy his previously stated position that America continues to have as its objective the provision of Israel with a defense capability that will maintain the balance of power in the Middle East and assure it against destruction as a state, The officials referred back to Schlesinger’s remarks on a CBS television interview two weeks ago that “The U.S. continues to have as an objective the security of Israel.”

SCHLESINGER SHOWED UNDERSTANDING

An Israeli source, assessing the Dinitz-Schlesinger meeting against the background of Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon’s three-hour session with Kissinger here Monday, told the JTA that it was still too early to say whether there has been an easing of the strained atmosphere between Washington and Jerusalem.

However, the Israeli source described the Pentagon meeting as a “good one” held in a “very friendly atmosphere” and said that Schlesinger showed understanding of the points Dinitz expressed to him, They said the two men had discussed developments of the past month and “bilateral matters” but the sources refused to comment or speculate on the actual content of their talks and declined to say on whose initiative the Dinitz Schlesinger meeting was arranged. They said it was “a routine meeting” within the framework of Dinitz’s ambassadorial duties.

American sources were even more reticent, observing that “there were just the two men in there,” They were unable to confirm published reports that Schlesinger’s remarks “eases” Israel’s “concern on arms.”

Independent sources here expressed the belief that President Ford’s remarks on the Middle East on a CBS television Interview Monday night implying that he no longer regarded Israel as an object of most favored nation treatment had prompted Dinitz to make inquiries on the current American position on arms shipments to Israel.

DELIVERIES HELD UP

The U.S. has held up the delivery of the “Lance” ground-to-ground missile to Israel, a weapon with a 40-mile range, despite previous assurances of delivery, It has also informed Israel that it was not prepared at present to deliver the new F-15 jet fighters, it is understood here, The slowdown in weapons deliveries to Israel is viewed here as part of the reassessment of Middle East policies ordered by Ford after the breakdown of the Kissinger talks.

The reassessment and other developments and comments by U.S. officials are seen by friends of Israel here to be, in the words of former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan who visited Kissinger Tuesday, both an American warning and challenge to Israel.