Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger left for Egypt this afternoon after delaying his departure for two hours for additional talks with Israeli leaders including Premier Yitzhak Rabin with whom he had breakfasted privately this morning. Kissinger commented to reporters that the talks were “very good and constructive.” But it was apparent that a serious stalemate has developed in negotiations for a second-stage Israeli-Egyptian agreement in Sinai, mainly over the political aspects of such an accord.
Israeli sources said bluntly that they regarded the “substantial ideas” Kissinger brought from Egypt last Friday as unsatisfactory. Rabin reportedly told the Secretary at their meetings last night and this morning that Egypt’s conditions for a new settlement did not meet Israel’s demands for a clear, public, written renunciation of belligerency by both sides.
Kissinger, who spent Saturday in Damascus and Amman in talks with President Hafez Assad of Syria and King Hussein of Jordan, returned here late yesterday. The American and Israeli negotiating teams were closeted in the King David Hotel for three hours, beginning at 6 p.m. Kissinger cancelled plans to attend a concert last night by violinist Isaac Stern celebrating the Hebrew University’s 50th anniversary.
The two negotiating teams took time out for sandwiches instead of a regular dinner and continued their meetings late into the night and then resumed the sessions early this morning. Kissinger said afterwards that “the two teams reviewed once again the ideas which I brought from Egypt and the Israeli reaction to those ideas, as well as the considerations the Israeli Cabinet and the negotiating team are asking me to take to Egypt.”
The Secretary is scheduled to spend about 24 hours in Aswan in talks with President Anwar Sadat. He is due back in Jerusalem tomorrow afternoon, presumably with Egypt’s response to Israel’s position.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
