State Department spokesman Hodding Carter stressed yesterday that the possibility of a United States-Israel defense treaty as part of a Middle East settlement was “not a matter of major discussion” at present.
Carter told newsmen that Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in an interview in the current issue of U.S. News and World Report said there is a “possibility” that such a treaty could be worked out. But Carter cautioned that the idea should not be seen as “an active question of policy.”
In the interview, Vance said the U.S. “would be prepared to consider the question of guarantees of any peace agreements (in the Mideast)–provided they were done in accordance with the constitutional processes of the United States and agreed by the parties.” He added, in response to a question, that could mean a bilateral defense treaty with Israel.
But Vance ruled out the possibility of American troops in the Mideast as part of a peacekeeping force as “unlikely” and “unwise.” He said that “it has been a general feeling of most nations that it is a mistake for either of the so-called great powers–the Soviets and ourselves–to have actual troops involved in peace-keeping operations.”
When Carter was asked yesterday if security treaties would be made with other parties in the Middle East, he replied that he did not think “that question had arisen.” He said such a treaty would not be an inducement to Israel to agree to a settlement but would be “a possible outcome of an overall settlement.”
Meanwhile, former Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, who addressed the World Jewish Congress conference here, told reporters yesterday that there is “no hope that even a moderate Arab government” will agree to territorial concessions with Israel since the Carter Administration is “not even recommending” such a concession.
He stressed that the U.S. has greater influence with Arab governments than it realizes and declared “America can afford not to let itself be pushed around by oil embargoes or other threats.” Allon said that he urged Vance and other Administration officials to adopt a “cooling off period” rather than seek to reconvene the Geneva conference by the end of this year.
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