Talking Face to Face Again

Guarded optimism, hurt feelings and "black propaganda "

It was an unlikely setting for a Middle East peace conference. Leeds Castle, a moat-surrounded medieval fortress, is set like a crown jewel in the placid English countryside southeast of London. Henry VIII once lived there with Anne Boleyn, his second wife, before love soured and he had her beheaded. Last week the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Israel sat down at Leeds Castle to try to weave together what was left of the frayed threads of the Middle East peace initiative. The two days of talks between Israel's Moshe Dayan and Egypt's Mohammed Ibrahim Kamel were presided over by U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had arranged the meeting in the hope that something might come of getting the parties face to face once again.

As the participants arrived in Britain for the talks, nerves were on edge. There were fears that the discussions might end in more acrimony, as well as rumors of a terrorist plot against the visiting officials. British security forces decided at the last minute to move the conference from London's modern and more convenient Churchill Hotel to the remote splendor of Leeds Castle. Security was extremely tight. Dayan and Kamel landed in a special section of London's Heathrow Airport, which had been barricaded by tanks, armored cars and British troops. Vance's jet was diverted to a Royal Air Force base. At the castle, sharpshooters manned the stone turrets, and sentries with guard dogs patrolled the grounds and single drawbridge access.

The conference went off without a hitch, although no one was boasting of any concrete achievements when it ended. Nonetheless, Vance allowed himself a bit of guarded optimism. Said the Secretary of State afterward: "These were the most candid and probing discussions I have heard between [the two sides]."

Vance first met separately with each of the two Foreign Ministers to work out procedures for the discussion. Reviewing the similarities between Israel's 26-point peace proposal offered last December and Egypt's six-point plan given to Vice President Walter Mondale earlier this month, the Secretary noted that both plans 1) envision real peace for Israel, with normal relations with its neighbors, 2) recognize the necessity of detailed security assurances for Israel, 3) propose a five-year transition period and some sort of self-government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, though there are major differences about what form such a government would take.

Next day in the castle's elegant conference room, overlooking the moat with its graceful black swans, Vance, Dayan and Kamel and their respective aides got down to direct talks. Although Vance sees his role as "more than a mediator, more than a postman," in the words of one U.S. official, he put forward no U.S. proposals during the meeting. Dayan and Kamel did about 90% of the talking in the sessions, which lasted for nearly seven hours.

The differences between the two sides centered on the so-called core issues: the applicability of U.N. Resolution 242 to the West Bank and Gaza, sovereignty of both areas, and the degree of Israeli withdrawal. To try to achieve some movement on these issues, Vance announced that State Department Troubleshooter Alfred Atherton Jr. will travel to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Israel this week to lay the groundwork for more talks. Vance himself will return to the Middle East to chair another meeting between the Israelis and the Egyptians in early August. Washington hopes to synthesize the positions of the two sides and broaden the next session to include defense and legal experts who could then carry the talks on into the details of withdrawal, new borders and security guarantees.

Dayan declared himself "optimistic about the Egyptians' attitude." He said he was surprised at the willingness of his Egyptian counterpart to forgo discussion of a declaration of principles, which would commit Israel to eventual withdrawal, in favor of concentrating on specific issues. "They didn't have the courage to pay us any compliments," noted one Israeli participant, "but at least Kamel told Dayan he could understand our problem."

Dayan assured Vance that Israel was willing to participate in another round of talks. But there was some doubt whether Egypt would go along. Returning to Cairo from the Organization of African Unity summit in Khartoum (see following story), Egyptian President Anwar Sadat declared that for a new meeting to be held, "there should be some new elements from Israel."

Meanwhile, Sadat's meetings with Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and Labor Party Leader Shimon Peres the week before in Austria had stormy repercussions in Israel. The Egyptians have barely concealed their frustration with Premier Menachem Begin, who they believe has no interest in negotiating for peace. Asked whether he met with Peres to try to split the Israeli government, Sadat termed the charge "the kind of black propaganda with which Menachem Begin tries to inflame the Israeli people." In a speech marking the 26th anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, Sadat declared: "It is possible to establish peace in hours. The only obstacle is Mr. Begin, who thinks he can have peace and guarantees and land. Peace, yes. Guarantees for both parties, yes. Land, no."

Although Begin had given advance approval to both the Weizman and Peres meetings with Sadat, the Defense Minister returned home to a scathing attack from other members of the Israeli Cabinet. They accused him of negotiating without authority and using the peace process to burnish his own image. Begin suggested that the Cabinet postpone its discussion on Weizman's talks with Sadat for another week. Furious at this snub, Weizman stormed out of the Cabinet session. Next day he tore a peace poster from a wall outside Begin's office.

Stung by Sadat's cool attitude, Begin told a meeting of his Herut party: "I am the only obstacle to total surrender. The demand for lands, for withdrawal from the West Bank, from Jerusalem and from the settlements means surrender. No matter what was whispered, what matters are the documents." Added Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, a vigorous proponent of Israel's expansionist policy of settling the occupied territories: "The Arabs are trying to build the image of their favorite leaders. They also decide who is clever, who is shrewd and who is capable of negotiation with them." Whereupon Begin interrupted, "They will soon also decide who is fat and who is thin." sb

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