Sol Linowitz, President Carter’s special Ambassador to the Middle East, reportedly told group of Jewish leaders here that he believed prospects for Arab-Israel peace are better now than at any time in the past 30 years. Linowitz, who is scheduled to leave Jan. 25 for his second visit to the Middle East as special Ambassador, spoke at a closed meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations last Thursday night.
He was understood to have said he had accepted his current post without much hope of success but that he came back on Dec. 19 from his first visit to the Middle East encouraged and in a mood of “modest optimism.”
He reportedly gave three reasons for that increased optimist. One is that there already is on Egyptian Israeli peace treaty. The second is that the treaty is being implemented by both sides in good faith. Linowitz reportedly stressed Israel’s “incredible act” of returning the Alma oilfields to Egypt and noted that, in six weeks, the two countries will exchange ambassadors.
It was understood that Linowitz said he had been told by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat that he (Linowitz) must always take into account Israel’s security concerns and that Israeli Premier Menachem Begin told him always to take into account Egypt’s isolation from the Arab world after approval of the peace treaty.
The third reason reportedly given by Linowitz is that the autonomy process continues, that it is going forward and has momentum. He was understood to have said that considerable progress had been made on the modalities of the election procedures for the Palestinian Arabs. He reportedly noted that, in regard to the powers of the self-governing authority or administrative council of the Arabs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the issues had been broken down into four main categories: the internal security of Israel; land; water, and the Arabs in East Jerusalem and whether they are to participate in the self-governing authority.
SAYS U.S. NOT WAVERING ON PLO
He reportedly told the Jewish leaders that there was not the “slightest wavering” in the Carter Administration’s refusal to deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization or to recognize the PLO unless the PLO recognized Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and agreed that Israel has the right to live in peace and freedom from tenor.
Linowitz reportedly said also that events in Iran and Afghanistan made it more important that a peaceful resolution on the Palestinian Arab issue be achieved; that instability in the area threatens Israel which he called a “vital strategic ally” of the United States; and that if a peaceful resolution of that issue could be achieved, it would serve as an example so other Arab states that it is possible to settle differences peaceably.
His listeners were reported to have raised a number of issues with the envoy. One concerned a statement he had made, during his first trip to the Middle East, that if he was a Palestinian Arab, he would not go into the negotiations. Linowitz reportedly replied that the autonomy plan cannot be “empty” but must be “credible and viable” to attract Palestinian Arabs to join the negotiations, and that if the Palestinians and Jordan regard the autonomy plan as forthcoming, credible and viable, chances are increased they would take part in the negotiations.
Linowitz reportedly disclosed that he had urged Israel to spell out details of its proposals for autonomy in areas including health and education, which he noted Israel did in its “model” autonomy plan, and that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the specific details might be regarded as credible and viable and might encourage the Palestinians to come in and that there might be reason for Jordan to become involved, however tangentially.
He was understood to have remarked that he might now reverse himself and say that, if he was a Palestinian, he might join the negotiations on autonomy. He reportedly was asked about on Egyptian suggestion that the autonomy plan be implemented first in the Gaza Strip and that he replied he did not know Israel’s reaction but that he could see a certain logic to it.
ELABORATES ON THE PLO ISSUE
Linowitz was understood to have elaborated on the PLO issue in response to a question about U.S. contacts with PLO members. He reportedly replied that since the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s letter to Israel, committing the United States to no dealings with the PLO, a position endorsed by President Carter, the United States has had no contacts with the PLO except in three situations” in Beirut when the lives of American diplomats there were endangered at the height of the fighting in Lebanon; when the American hostages were taken in Teheran and PLO leaders said they would try to get freedom for the hostages; and contact regarding “housekeeping details” in connection with the PLO’s status enabling it to have a permanent observer at the UN.
He reportedly acknowledged contacts with the PLO by then UN Ambassador Andrew, Young and Milton Wolf in Vienna but said those contacts had not been authorized and that it remained U.S. policy not to deal with the PLO unless and until the PLO accepts Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and recognized Israel’s right to live in peace.
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.
