Carter Will Not ‘miss the Moment’

Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher said here today that President Carter “does not intend to miss the moment” presented by the Sadat-Begin meeting and that “despite the pitfalls and difficulties we now have the best chance since 1948 for real peace in the Middle East.”

Addressing the 54th biennial Assembly of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Christopher, who is Acting Secretary of State while Secretary of State Cyrus Vance is visiting Latin America, gave the first detailed response by the Carter Administration to the recent events in Jerusalem. “We see this initiative as a beginning. It foreshadows the face-to-face negotiations which must come between all participants in the conflict if the vision and imagination displayed in Jerusalem over the past few days are to be translated into reality,” he said.

Christopher declared, however, that in bringing the peace discussions to Geneva, one cannot avoid either the participation of the Soviet Union or the question of the Palestinians, “not if we want a real chance for peace.” He added: “It would be wrong and short-sighted in these weeks of intense diplomacy to pretend that the Soviet Union, as co-chairman of the Geneva conference, does not have an interest in the Middle East or to pretend that it does not have a role to play in the outcome of negotiations–a constructive role or a troublesome role,” the State Department official said.

Christopher noted that President Carter has endorsed the concept of a Palestinian homeland or entity. He stated, however, that the U.S. does not prefer an independent Palestinian state and that our preference would be for such an entity to be linked with Jordan. Christopher reaffirmed that the basis for negotiations must be UN Resolutions 242 and 338. He declared: “Our position on the Palestinian issue and on the role of the Soviet Union poses no threat to the security of Israel.”