Inching Ahead in Haifa

Sadat and Begin meet again as old friends, but make little progress

They arrived in Haifa with almost diametrically opposed intentions. Israeli Premier Menachem Begin was preoccupied with bilateral issues that had arisen since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty last March. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was eager for progress toward a wider peace in the Middle East. After three hours of private talks during Sadat's 48-hour visit, Begin had achieved his objectives. But Sadat's hope of new movement toward solving the Palestinian problem, which he termed "the heart and core of the entire conflict," was unfulfilled.

The Sadat-Begin summit, the seventh since Sadat's historic journey to Jerusalem in November 1977, thus produced mixed results. The meetings on Mount Carmel, a setting that offered the participants a soothing panoramic view of Haifa harbor, reaffirmed the underlying strength of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty. Despite strong differences in attitude and priorities, Sadat and Begin gave every indication that their relationship is now rooted in friendship and respect. In fact, some diplomats are convinced that after months of occasional disappointments and persistent distrust, the two men have grown genuinely fond of each other.

The Egyptian leader and his wife Jehan, accompanied by their 18-year-old daughter, also named Jehan, charmed their Israeli hosts. Sadat, wearing a blue pin-stripe suit and puffing on a pipe, seemed relaxed and confident at a press conference with Begin on the lawn of the Dan Carmel Hotel.

But there was a tone of urgency in his appeals for progress in the stalemated negotiations on autonomy for the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Sadat underscored the theme as soon as his glistening white yacht el-Houriya (Freedom) docked at Haifa port. After receiving a 21-gun salute and watching a fly-over by ten Israeli Kfir jet fighters, Sadat expressed his determination "to spread the umbrella of peace to include the Palestinian people," adding: "This is a moral commitment to which we will remain faithful at all tunes."

That evening, after his first meeting with Begin, Sadat was even more outspoken. At a lavish roast beef dinner for 400 hosted by Israel's President, Yitzhak Navon, he said: "We should all realize that the only durable peace is the comprehensive peace. Any misconception on this point would be a gross mistake." He insisted that "the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people is not incompatible with Israel's interests."

Again at a joint press conference following the final working session, Begin replied, somewhat defensively, that Israel was also seeking a comprehensive peace settlement. He insisted that "our negotiating teams faithfully kept to the commitments in the Camp David agreement."

But Begin and Sadat still have divergent interpretations of the Camp David accords. Begin's autonomy plan for the Palestinian inhabitants of the occupied territories would restrict the authority of the elected Palestinian council to purely administrative matters. The Egyptians believe the agreement called for broader powers for the Palestinians, including legislative and judicial authority. The Egyptians seem to be losing hope of convincing the Palestinians that they should join the negotiations; but they firmly believe that unless some do, the talks cannot succeed.

The differences of opinion between Begin and Sadat on the future of Jerusalem also surfaced during the press conference. At Camp David, said Sadat, "we have stated that Jerusalem is part of the West Bank. When we are discussing full autonomy for the West Bank and the Gaza, for sure we are discussing the Jerusalem issue." Begin was smiling broadly as he responded. "Let me also tell you what I told my dear friend President Sadat about Jerusalem," said the Premier. "It's an indivisible city. There is completely free access to the holy shrines by sons of all religions ... This is the attitude of Israel. On this, indeed, we differ."

The impression .conveyed by Begin is that his government intends to stand pat on its autonomy proposals, and will not budge an inch toward Egypt's positions. This troubles many Israelis as well as Egyptians and others. In an editorial, the Jerusalem Post observed: "Agreeing to disagree is a useful formula--up to a point. That point arises when decisions must be taken, and decisions on how to translate the Camp David 'framework' into a full-bodied autonomy will have to be taken very soon ... If the idea of autonomy is sunk not because of P.L.O. sabotage but due to differences between Egypt and Israel, then the great achievements of the past two years, manifested in the open camaraderie between 'My friend Premier Begin' and 'My good friend President Sadat' may yet be endangered."

By pressing Sadat for concessions on bilateral issues, which the Egyptian President speedily granted, Begin appeared to ignore the importance to Sadat of broadening the peace beyond the borders of Egypt and Israel. At the Haifa press conference, the Israeli Premier proudly announced the agreements: Sadat's promise to sell oil to Israel from the Sinai fields (14 million bbl. annually, with the price to be decided later); the decision to establish joint Egyptian-Israeli army patrols in the Sinai, at least until the U.S. can put together a multinational peace-keeping force; and Israel's willingness to return to Egypt ahead of schedule the monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai, thereby enabling Sadat to commemorate the second anniversary of his visit to Jerusalem with a Hollywood-style extravaganza.

Throughout Begin's recitation, Sadat struck a studiedly indifferent pose, as if to say that such minor matters as oil and peace-keeping forces should not even arise at a summit meeting. Yet the trip to Haifa had buoyed his spirits. He was impressed by seeing Jews and Arabs living peaceably together in the port city; the population there is 20% Arab. He enjoyed visits to an electronics plant and a food-processing plant, presumably because those facilities represented exactly the kind of technical know-how that Sadat hopes to receive some day from Israel. And when he saw the Israeli farm land, it could hardly have failed to remind him of his dream of a "green revolution" for parts of the Sinai. Such fruits of peace could be the salvation of Egypt -- but first must come the elusive breakthrough to a wider Middle East settlement.

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