Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s National Security Advisor, said in Born today that he is “mildly hopeful” that progress will be achieved at the meeting of the Israeli and Egyptian foreign ministers and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance which begins in England tomorrow. In a CBS News telecast from Bonn, where he is attending the Western economic summit meeting, Brzezinski cautioned against being discouraged by the “ups and downs” of Arab-Israeli talks.
“We are headed in the right direction and the parties concerned are, I believe, negotiating in good faith, “Brzezinski said. He said “I can’t predict” the outcome of the latest talks. “I don’t know what will come out of it. Our hope is that we can increasingly set in motion the sustained negotiating process between the parties so that this negotiating process will, step by step, cumulatively involve a widening of the scope of the negotiations and point to resolution of some of the issues that prevent a peaceful settlement,” he said.
Brzezinski replied “exactly” when he was asked if the purpose of the talks in England is to get negotiations back on the track. “The parties are beginning to talk to each other. The issues that they are talking about are the central issues. So I am mildly hopeful that this will go forward,” he said.
SEES SOME GOOD COMING OUT OF SOVIET TRIALS
Brzezinsky also offered his view of the recent trials of dissidents in the Soviet Union. He suggested that some good may come out of them and termed the trials “another step for mankind.” He observed, in a CBS radio interview:
“You know the progress of history has often involved courage and sacrifice. We know that dissidents in the past have paid a price. I think that in addition, I mention here that many of these people are Jewish and we know that the suffering of the Jews has been connected both with the depravity of man but also with the quest of man for higher standards, and I see in these trials another step for mankind, even though they are sad and discouraging.” (See related story from Washington, P.3.)
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.
