Weizman to Meet Sadat in Effort to Break Impasse on Oil Price

Defense Minister Ezer Weizman is expected to meet Egyptian President Anwar Sadat tomorrow in an effort to break the impasse over the price Egypt will charge Israel for Sinai oil. The Egyptians are asking $32 a barrel for the two million barrels they have promised to supply Israel annually but the Israelis are demanding $22-$24.

Weizman, who was in Egypt all week for talks with Egyptian Defense Minister Kamal Hassan Ali, was flown back to Israel yesterday in a special Egyptian plane to take part in the Knesset votes on opposition motions of no-confidence. With the government of Premier Menachem Begin defeating the Knesset challenge, he returned to Cairo today on the same plane.

There are reports that Weizman has been authorized to suggest some means of arbitrating the oil dispute now that the U.S. has rejected Israel’s request that it act as arbitrator. He reportedly may also after technical aid in developing the Sinai oil fields in return for lower prices. Weizman, however, does not believe the dispute over oil prices will undermine the relations between the two countries.

Weizman is also scheduled to discuss with Sadat and Hassan Ali the question of allowing Israeli tourists to visit the Mount Sinai area after it is returned to Egypt Nov. 15 and whether Israel will be allowed to continue operating a field school there.

Meanwhile, Weizman brought back to Israel an invitation to Begin to attend the ceremony Sadat has planned at Mount Sinai on Nov. 19 to mark the second anniversary of his trip to Jerusalem. An Egyptian team, headed by Hassan Kamal, chief of Sadat’s office, arrived at an airfield near the mountain today to discuss plans for the ceremony. They were met by Dr. Eliyahu Ben-Elissar, head of the Prime Minister’s Office; Begin’s press chief, Dan Pattir; and Gen. Ephraim Poran, Begin’s military advisor.