Bazaar Bargaining in Washington

New flexibility, but nothing is nailed down

"These talks were not designed to I reach agreement." That warning was sounded by Press Secretary Jody Powell as high-level foreign officials began trooping to Washington for meetings with Jimmy Carter and Cyrus Vance. The President and his Secretary of State were looking for movement on peace talks in the Middle East and on strategic arms negotiations with the Soviets but were careful not to let expectations get out of hand. In the end, SALT was still stalemated. However, there seemed to be a minute improvement in a procedural bottleneck that has blocked a reconvening of the Geneva Conference between Israelis and Arabs. But there was no progress on the basic issues of Israel's refusal to withdraw to its 1967 borders or to accept an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank.

The Administration's push on the Middle East took place against a backdrop of ominous new fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces in southern Lebanon. This provided an extra note of urgency as the first visitor, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, arrived in Washington after a mysterious side trip for some personal diplomacy of his own. He was followed by his counterpart from the most moderate of Israel's adversaries, Ismail Fahmy of Egypt. This week, when Carter and Vance meet with Jordanian Premier Mudar Badran and Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the talk may turn tougher. Khaddam is expected to urge the U.S. to speed up the peace process by making use of its heavy leverage on Jerusalem.

Dayan provided the new cause for hope during lunch (filet de sole veronique) at the State Department when Vance asked: "What about Palestinian participation?" To his hosts' surprise, Dayan's reply showed some tiny signs of flexibility. He reiterated that Jerusalem remained unalterably opposed to seating a delegation from the Palestine Liberation Organization at the conference. Nonetheless, Israel might accept the presence of pro-P.L.O. Palestinians who are not members of the terrorist group. In response to another question from Vance, Dayan indicated that the Palestinians could be part of a Pan-Arab delegation; its members might include some Arab mayors from the West Bank.

Dayan seemed less amenable to compromise on another issue raised by Vance: the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. The Foreign Minister rejected the American judgment that these settlements are obstacles to a peace agreement. Said he: "For us it is a matter of principle, of Jews being allowed to live anywhere in Eretz [Land of] Israel." Dayan added that his government would try not to be "provocative" about the settlements and insisted that Premier Menachem Begin was merely carrying out a policy created by previous Labor governments.

At a press conference next day, Dayan carefully noted that the existence of the settlements would have no influence on the final drawing of territorial lines--even though Israel has no intention of giving up all the West Bank and retreating to its pre-1967 borders. The Foreign Minister left open the possibility that Israel would accept a Pan-Arab delegation at Geneva, if the composition of its membership could be agreed upon. "Geneva is closer, every day we get closer," he said. Dayan also had kindly words for Jordan's King Hussein and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat; both, he said, "do want to conclude peace talks with us."

As if to prove him right, Egypt's Fahmy refused to slam the door that Dayan had opened ever so slightly. Fahmy made it clear that the Egyptians have strong reservations about a Pan-Arab delegation. A member of his delegation explained later: "Eventually we would have to break down into subcommittees for serious negotiations at Geneva, and once again we would run into the problem of persuading Israel to negotiate with the P.L.O. representatives." Nonetheless, among the options not ruled out by Fahmy were: 1) a Pan-Arab delegation that would include Palestinians, some of them--but not all--P.L.O. members; and 2) a delegation to Geneva from the Arab League. As a member of the league, the P.L.O. would be represented as fully as Egypt, Jordan or Syria. His central point, though, was that it was up to the Palestinians themselves to decide who would represent them.

It was Fahmy's judgment that the P.L.O. was eager for official talks with U.S. diplomats. This was borne out in Paris, where the P.L.O.'s de facto Foreign Minister, Farouk Kaddoumi, told TIME's Robert Kroon: "We will not object to going to Geneva as part of a single Arab delegation, provided we get separate invitations from the U.S. and Soviet cochairmen." One bar to P.L.O. participation is Washington's insistence that the organization endorse United Nations Resolution 242, which calls for "secure borders" for all nations in the area--an implicit recognition of Israel's right to exist. The P.L.O. has refused to accept the resolution, since it refers to the Palestinians as refugees rather than as a nation with rights.

To eliminate this obstacle, Rumania's U.N. delegation--with Arab backing--will propose a resolution in the General Assembly calling for a Palestinian homeland. Kaddoumi stressed repeatedly to Kroon that the resolution would not "modify or replace" Resolution 242. Asked if the P.L.O. demand for an independent Palestinian state meant all of Israel, Kaddoumi replied: "No, a portion. We would settle for the West Bank and Gaza." The Israelis, however, have made it clear that they will not surrender any occupied territory to the P.L.O.

Although Administration officials recognized that little was accomplished during last week's bazaar bargaining, they achieved more than they had expected. Said a senior official: "We're encouraged but not ecstatic." Had anything definite been resolved in Dayan's private talks with Vance and Carter? Said another senior U.S. aide: "It will be another week at least before we see which way things are going." But even if they are headed in Geneva's direction, chances for full-scale talks between Arabs and Israelis are still very remote.

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