By John A. Meyers

In Washington, Cairo and Jerusalem last week, three leaders brooded about a risky summit meeting that could bring the Middle East a little closer to peace--or set back even further the negotiating process. Yet even as Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin prepared for Camp David, three TIME correspondents made preparations of their own. Their reports, highlighted by an interview with Begin and a background chat with Sadat, provide the key material for this week's cover story.

For Dean Fischer, who took over as TIME'S Jerusalem bureau chief two months ago, the upcoming summit provides a first opportunity to travel with Israeli Premier Begin. A former TIME White House correspondent, Fischer accompanied Richard Nixon on a visit to the Middle East in 1974, only two months before the President's Watergate downfall. He helped cover the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon last spring, then took a six-week tour of the Arab "confrontation states" to gain a balanced perspective. Of the Israelis, Fischer says: "There is a sense that the summit is occurring at a critical juncture in the Middle East peace-seeking process and that failure of the negotiations could create ominous tensions."

For Wilton Wynn, TIME'S Cairo bureau chief, the meeting is another chance to renew an old acquaintanceship that dates back to 1953, when Sadat founded the government newspaper al Gumhuriya. Wynn was one of the first foreign journalists to recognize Sadat as a rising star on the Egyptian horizon. Since then, Wynn has interviewed him eleven times--more than any other non-Arab print journalist. He also flew with Sadat on his "sacred mission" to Jerusalem last year, and prepared to be on the presidential plane again this week. Says Wynn: "The President's private compartment provides an excellent atmosphere for talking with him. He usually is puffing on that pipe of his, joking a bit, relaxed and amiable."

Keeping watch on Jimmy Carter's pivotal corner of this diplomatic triangle was State Department Correspondent Chris Ogden in Washington. Says Ogden: "The overall sense one gets is that the Camp David summit is a very high-stakes gamble. Some or all of the players could win big --but the odds do not favor that."

All three of these veteran observers will be at the foot of the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains this week, waiting for clues as to exactly how the chips get played.

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