More Travels with Henry

Though Henry Kissinger's diplomatic passport (No. X 104601) carries the entry "A Former Secretary of State," his hosts last week treated him as if he still held that office. Anwar Sadat sent him from Cairo to Tel Aviv in an official Mystere jet; King Hussein of Jordan dispatched a helicopter to carry him from the Allenby Bridge to Amman; the Saudis sent a Gulfstream II executive jet (with closed-circuit TV) to fly Kissinger, his wife Nancy and his son David, 17, to Riyadh. "What we're doing for Henry," said one Egyptian official, "we normally do only for Presidents and Prime Ministers."

Clearly, Kissinger relished the attention. "It's nice to be involved without carrying the responsibilities," he told TIME Correspondent Bruce van Voorst, who traveled with him "It's a marvelous experience to be a freelancer." Kissinger insisted that he had come to the Middle East only "to get an honorary degree and see some old friends," adding with as much of a straight face as he could muster, "if some of my old friends ask me for my opinion, I will share it with them. I've always been interested in foreign policy."

The former Secretary of State made some foreign policy news, although it did not involve the Middle East. In an interview that the Washington Post published during his trip, Kissinger blasted the Administration's Rhodesia policy for favoring Black African radicals rather than moderates, thus contributing to Soviet and Cuban expansionism. Privately, State Department officials complained that Kissinger was not well versed in current U.S. policy and that his views would bring about the very increase in Soviet influence he feared most.

Much of the trip for Kissinger was an exercise in nostalgia. When he dined with Anwar Sadat on the lawn of the Mamura guesthouse in Alexandria, the table was set up on the spot where they initialed the second Sinai disengagement agreement in late summer 1975. Said an obviously moved Kissinger: "We sat in the same positions. I was almost overcome with memories. One thing I did in public life which made a difference was to work with Sadat."

In Israel, he was a star attraction, drawing enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. "Are you running for the Senate or the Knesset?" asked Labor Party Leader Shimon Peres. Answered Henry: "Well, those are the only two I qualify for." Besides recieving a doctorate in philosophyhe only philosophy from Hebrew University Kissinger met with Premier Begin and visited the grave of Golda Meir. "She was an incredible personality," he recalled. "I remember once we worked through to 5 a.m., and Golda dismissed us with the comment 'You young people better get to bed. I've got work to do.'"

In Jordan and Saudi Arabia Kissinger spent hours in earnest conversation with King Hussein and Crown Prince Fahd. He described Hussein as being in "a tough spot. I don't discount the possibility he might be more receptive to joining the autonomy talks, providing he had some idea where they were heading." Later, after seeing Fahd, Kissinger said: "I don't think we are necessarily on a downward escalation of relations with the Saudis. However important a settlement of the Palestinian and Jerusalem issues are for them, they also realize they have a wide range of interests at stake." He was asked if the Saudis were impressed with Defense Department proposals for U.S. "quick action" forces that could be rushed to the Middle East in a crisis. His answer: "No. And neither am I until they come into existence."

Then, still basking in the glow of their reception, Kissinger and Nancy boarded a plane to shuttle off for London and Morocco.

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