Kissinger Says His Return to Mideast Indicates Good Chances of Success

President Ford announced today that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will return to the Middle East Wednesday to resume his efforts to reach an interim agreement between Israel and Egypt. In the announcement, which was made in Vail, Colorado where the President is vacationing, Ford said he hoped that Kissinger’s mission would succeed.

The announcement came after Ford and Kissinger had discussed the Mideast over the weekend. Kissinger told a news conference today that “We think there is a good chance of success or the President would not have authorized my return.”

The Secretary said he would go to Jerusalem first and then fly to Alexandria, Egypt, to meet President Anwar Sadat. Kissinger suggested that his “shuttle diplomacy” would last about 10 days after which he would visit Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Ford’s decision to send Kissinger back to the Middle East came after American and Israeli officials last week reached an agreement in principle on some issues involving the line to which Israel would withdraw in the Sinai. But Kissinger stressed some issues still had to be settled. He said permanent peace would have to settle Israel’s borders with all its Arab neighbors, take into account the Palestinian problem, spell out the Arabs’ obligations for peace, and include guarantees for final arrangements.

PERSONNEL WILL BE CIVILIAN

One of the sticking points in the new Israeli-Egyptian accord is that U.S. civilian technicians will be required to help maintain the Sinai agreement. Speaking at a press conference in Birmingham, Alabama last Thursday, Kissinger announced that he would seek a Congressional vote before allowing technicians to be sent to the area.

He ruled out the possibility that the technicians might be military. “The only presence that could be considered would be unarmed American civilian personnel,” Kissinger said, and added, “in very small numbers.” The Secretary also said that both Israel and Egypt must understand that sending U.S. technicians would require a vote of Congress. Today, Kissinger promised that all arrangements involving the U.S. in an interim accord would be submitted to Congress “and there will be no secret understandings that are not submitted.”

(Sen. Thomas Eagleton, Democrat of Missouri, said in Israel he was confident that Congress would support the dispatching of U.S. technicians to monitor radar stations near the strategic mountain passes. The Senator, visiting Israel for three days, said on television yesterday he believed the American team would include some 200 civilians.)

Kissinger’s scheduled Mideast trip follows a hectic and intense round of meetings in Washington last week between an Israeli political team headed here by Ambassador Simcha Dinitz and Undersecretary of State Joseph J. Sisco, and several meetings between Dinitz and Kissinger. Israeli and U.S. negotiators had completed work on a draft language for a second accord but some issues were still unresolved.

AID PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL

Meanwhile, the Israel-U.S. bilateral talks on Israel’s request for $2.8 billion in economic and military aid, which began last Wednesday ended, The State Department freely acknowledged that the financial aid hinges on the political developments.

(The economic delegation returned today to Israel and Arnon Gafni, who headed the delegation, said that an understanding has been reached on several points and the scope of the aid. He said the needs of Israel that will emerge as a result of the new interim agreement — such as a new line of defense in Sinai — were also discussed. Gafni refused to disclose the amount Israel may get from the U.S. noting that the Administration and Congress will have to decide.

Kissinger today said that Ford would send Congress in September a comprehensive package of aid proposed for Israel and for Arab countries already receiving American assistance. The package would take into account additional aid that Israel might require because of increased foreign exchange costs it would incur after giving up the Sinai oil-fields, he said.

Meanwhile, Newsweek magazine reported today that the Ford Administration plans to ask Congress for a sweeping resolution on Israel pledging the nation’s security, supply of U.S. arms and the inviolability of Mideast borders. The proposals, News-week said, would “formally state for the first time the long-understood U.S. guarantee of Israel’s security.” One diplomatic source was quoted by the magazine as saying “This resolution could emerge as tantamount to a bilateral security agreement.”