Fanfare and Funds for Sadat

There were some awkward moments and some outright blunders, but even so, Egypt's President Anwar Sadat seemed to have achieved most of his goals within days of his arrival in the U.S. for a state visit last week. The White House, obviously intent on cementing its new-found friendship with Sadat, gave him the maximum treatment, including a 21-gun salute and a fanfare from 14 red-coated trumpeters. There was also the news that President Ford had asked for $750 million in economic aid to Egypt as part of a $3.4 billion Middle East aid package that went to Congress last week. This was three times what Egypt had received last year --evidently a reward for Sadat's willingness to come to an agreement with Israel on the Sinai last August. Over and above the aid, which must wait for congressional approval, the U.S. agreed to sell Egypt $98.1 million worth of much-needed wheat under favorable terms.

Warm Friendship. Although Ford had met the Egyptian leader only once before--in Salzburg last June--he greeted him with assurances of "warm personal friendship." Later there were two hour-long meetings in the Oval Office. At a state dinner Sadat--who does not dance--was whirled round by Singer Pearl Bailey as part of her act. This week Sadat will meet Ford twice more--at the Jacksonville, Fla., estate of Oil Millionaire Raymond Mason and at the White House; he will also address a joint session of Congress.

For both the U.S. and Egypt, the purpose of all the cordiality was to maintain the momentum created by the Egyptian-Israeli accords on the Sinai, in the hope that more substantive agreements may follow. The U.S. also hopes to encourage its ripening friendship with

Sadat, who has been blasting the Soviet Union since the October 1973 war for denying him new arms and meddling in the Middle East. As for Sadat, though he insisted that he had not brought a shopping list, he is known to be anxious to buy $5 billion worth of arms from the U.S. over the next five years.

Coming after two decades of severely strained U.S.-Egyptian relations, however, the new era of good will did have its bad moments. At a banquet given by Sadat at Washington's Anderson House, Ford raised his glass of sparkling Catawba juice and said, turning to Sadat, "To you, and the people you represent, the great people of the government of Israel." Amid gasps, Ford could only say lamely, "Egypt... excuse me." Later the two leaders reportedly laughed politely over the slip. Sadat's press secretary, Tahsin Bashir (see THE PRESS), cracked a barbed joke, "Perhaps President Ford is suggesting that Sadat will be President of Israel as well."

Sadat also made a blunder. After a moderate speech at Washington's National Press Club, Sadat was asked his opinion of a U.N. draft resolution on Zionism that is to be voted upon by the General Assembly next week. The draft resolution, which condemns Zionism as a form of racism, was sponsored by the Arab League, including Egypt, and approved by the General Assembly's Social Committee, 70 to 29 with 27 abstentions. Sadat's strikingly personal reply provoked sharp criticism. He recalled that in 1950, "after seven years of concentration camp and prison,"* he could not buy a radio from shopkeepers in Egypt because "all the dealers and everything in our country were in the hands of the Jews." Sadat added that "Zionism brought to the area bitterness, violence, hatred and killing."

No Key. The anti-Zionist U.N. resolution continued to plague Sadat as he headed for New York to address the General Assembly. Mayor Abraham Beame, who had offered to give Sadat the key to the city, withdrew the invitation when he realized that many of New York's 2.4 million Jews might regard any welcome as bad taste--and worse politics. The insult was compounded by Governor Hugh Carey, who also declined to see Sadat. Then when he arrived at the U.N., he was greeted by cries of "Down with Sadat! Long live Palestine!" from Palestinian sympathizers on Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

Unperturbed, Sadat delivered a characteristically low-key speech to the General Assembly that appealed for help in reconvening the Geneva talks on an overall Middle East settlement. He attempted to placate Arabs critical of the Sinai accords by calling for Palestine Liberation Organization participation in the talks and urging the U.S. to initiate a dialogue with the Palestinians. At the same time he urged Syria to seek a disengagement agreement with Israel. Most U.N. delegations politely applauded Sadat. The Syrians and the Israelis did not applaud at all.

Israel did have at least one cause for applause last week as a result of its accords with Sadat. For the first time since 1959, a ship with Israel-bound cargo was about to go through the Suez Canal: the Greek vessel Olympus, loaded with some 8,000 tons of cement from Rumania. In addition, Sadat figured in Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's decision to postpone his scheduled visit to the U.S. from November to December, or even later. Mainly, Rabin wishes to avoid U.S. pressure to negotiate an accord with Syria on the Golan Heights before the U.N. mandate expires on Nov. 30. But some observers believe that Rabin is increasingly aware of Sadat's dazzling TV smile and generally appealing public image. He would reportedly like to see that image fade a bit before making his own appearance in the U.S.

*Sadat was imprisoned by the British from 1942 to 1944 for collaborating with the Germans. He was jailed again from 1946 to 1949 for having allegedly participated in the assassination of Finance Minister Amin Osman Pasha.

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