Whatever Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s motives, design or pique, in suspending the Egyptian-Israeli political talks in Jerusalem and summoning his parliament into special session, the White House considers his action as an expected setback in a negotiating process that could not run smoothly.
“I encourage you not to overreact to the situation and view it with excessive alarm,” a senior White House official told key reporters in a background briefing late yesterday on Administration views after President Carter had telephoned Sadat and asked him not to cancel the Israeli-Egyptian military talks which had been due in Cairo today.
In addition, the official pointed out that Sadat’s actions are not altering Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s schedule. This was seen as another indication that Carter apparently is, for the time being, not rushing into a new diplomatic path to appease Sadat if the Egyptian leader is, as is widely believed here, looking to Carter to cause Israeli Premier Menachem Begin to agree to Sadat’s settlement ideas.
Vance, in Jerusalem, is to meet Sadat tomorrow in Cairo as originally planned. He is to return to Washington Sunday night after visits to Greece and Turkey on the Cyprus issue.
According to the official who met with reporters, Carter encouraged Sadat in their conversation to keep the negotiations going and Sadat confirmed his continuing desire for peace, although he did seem concerned and he did express his concerns to Carter. The President did not speak with Begin, the official added, because Vance had talked with him.
The U.S. is concerned that the negotiating process go forward and continue, the official stressed. However, it is also correct to point out, he continued, that these are difficult negotiations and in any such difficult negotiations, ups and downs and difficult points are inevitable. In those situations, he said, the U.S. can, has and will use its good offices to keep the political process moving to bring about a meeting of minds.
While he would not characterize Sadat’s action or go into specifics, the official stressed that it is not the U.S. view that either the Israelis or the Egyptians desire to terminate the discussions and the progress that has been made up to this point. He also cautioned that it would be a mistake for the media to try to speculate on how wide or deep or active the U.S. role is.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
