President Carter said yesterday that “the security of Israel” is the “first and foremost” principle that guides U.S. policy in the Middle East and “secondly, Jerusalem to be an undivided city.”
The President made those remarks in the course of a White House meeting with a group of New York City civic and communal leaders, including several Jewish community leaders, during which he spoke of the “legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” but strongly reaffirmed his apposition to an independent Palestinian state and his refusal to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization without preconditions.
The President’s commitment to an “undivided Jerusalem,” applauded by his guests, was reiterated by his National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, at a breakfast meeting this morning with reporters at the National Press Club.
Carter’s statements appeared to be in response to demands for clarification of U.S. policy toward Israel in the woke of American support for the United Nations Security Council’s anti-Israel resolution of March I which the President subsequently disavowed. The question remained, however, when and whether the Administration would formally present a document to the Security Council detailing the President’s repudiation of the U.S. vote.
Carter told the New York City leaders at the White House that “Our American policy (in the Mideast) and the principles on which we have based that policy have not changed. First and foremost is the security of Israel, its integrity as a nation, to be at peace with its neighbors protected behind recognized and secure borders. Secondly, Jerusalem to be undivided and with access by all to the holy places.” He said further that “The agreed basis for present and future negotiations” continues to be UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
REFERS TO OTHER PRINCIPLES
Carter added that U.S. principles include resolution of the “Palestinian problem in all its aspects, to use the words that were agreed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, President Anwar Sadat and myself.” He said another principle is to “hammer out through negotiations a self-governing authority for the West Bank and Gaza areas for a five-year transition period at the end of which time the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza would be determined through negotiations.”
Carter referred to “quotations from the Camp David accords” when he spoke of recognition of “the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” He said “This is our desire, this is the desire of the Israel government and I think the Israeli people and it is certainly the desire of those who live in the Arab countries, particularly Egypt.” He added “We do not favor an independent Palestinian state, we have consistently opposed this prospect and we will not negotiate with or recognize the PLO until they adopt UN Resolution 242 and recognize Israel’s right to exist.”
Carter referred obliquely to the charge made yesterday by New York City Mayor Edward Koch that the Administration was being pushed toward an anti-Israel position by five key advisors who are “anti-Israel.” He said the principles he referred to “in brief outline guide us day-by-day, in the past, at the present time and in the future. The policy of our country is shaped by me as President.”
He said his “understanding” with Begin and Sadat “is clear and we will not deviate from it. If there is one viable prospect for peace, it depends upon the mutual trust that exists between myself, Mr. Begin and Mr. Sadat, or perhaps on our successors following a change in government.”
BRZEZINSKI QUESTIONED ON UN RESOLUTION
At the National Press Club this morning, Brzezinski was questioned closely about the Security Council’s resolution that included Jerusalem among the occupied Arab territories and called for the dismantling of Jewish settlements in the territories and Jerusalem. He was asked specifically if the resolution, minus the references to Jerusalem and “dismantling,” represents U.S. policy, including its references to “Palestinian and other Arab territories.”
He replied that “The resolution as pertains to settlements represents continuing U.S. policy of this Administration as well as preceding ones.” Pressed for a more pointed reply, Brzezinski said “There is a question with Gaza specifically, whether it is Palestinian or Arab or what. That issue is being negotiated. There is also the question of the Golan Heights which is to be resolved in the course of the peace treaty. As far as our policy is concerned and insofar as our position is concerned, the part of the resolution dealing with the settlements represents our policy.”
With respect to the resolution as a whole, Brzezinski said “Part of the problem was that there was extraneous terminology in the resolution which addressed itself to issue that went beyond the settlements.” Asked if any official U.S. statement had been made previously with respect to “Palestinian or other Arab territories,” he said “This is a matter to be resolved in the peace process. Insofar as the UN resolution is concerned, our view is that it should focus specifically on the question of settlements as such.”
On Jerusalem, Brzezinski said “U.S. policy on this subject is defined in the Camp David accords and the substance of that position is, as I have summarized for you, namely, we believe the city should not be divided again and that the matter ought to be resolved in the course of the peace process, taking cognizance of the great significance the city has to the three great faiths.”
Brzezinski declined to comment on reports from Jerusalem today of the government’s expropriation of about 1000 acres in East Jerusalem, including Arab-owned land, to build housing projects for Jews. He said, however, “I register a great deal of sympathy” with the reported remarks by Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem criticizing the move. (See related story from Jerusalem, P.2.)
TWO REBUT KOCH’S CHARGE
Meanwhile, the charge by Koch against what he called “the Gang of Five” — Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs Harold Saunders, U.S.
At the U.S. Mission to the UN, a spokesman for McHenry declared in a statement on the Ambassador’s behalf, “The allegations are obviously based on a lack of information, or a misunderstanding of it. These allegations are mode without facts or substance to support them and there are no facts which would support them. Mr. Koch is entitled to his opinion although I know of no basis for his remarks. On all foreign policy decisions, what is needed is informed and reasoned discussion. I do not believe that objective is advanced by such accusations or labelling.”
Vance called Koch’s charge against him “absolute boloney,” adding he was making that comment not only as Secretary of State but as a New Yorker. He added that “Ed Koch knows damn well that is a lot of hogwash that I am anti-Israel. I had never been and will never be anti-Israel. To say the least, I am disappointed in my old friend.”
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.
