Israel's "House"

And Cairo's worries

The Star of David flew above Cairo last week, though few Egyptians seemed to take much notice. While a group of 50 American tourists cheered, Israel opened an embassy in a two-story residence at 23 Mohieddin Abu el Ezz under the terms of its peace treaty with Egypt. "From this moment," said Syrian-born Charge d'Affaires Yosef Hadass, 52, who spoke to the small crowd in Hebrew, Arabic and English, "Israel has its house in Egypt, and within a few days, Egypt will have its house in Israel."

Though they opened their own embassy in Tel Aviv later in the week, the Egyptians could hardly have been less enthusiastic. Said one Cairo official who did not attend the ceremony: "We're not ready to celebrate anything right now, with the situation as it is in Gaza and the West Bank." Translation: Egypt is unhappy with the lack of progress to date in the nine-month-old Palestinian autonomy talks and does not wish to make other Arab nations any angrier over the Egyptian-Israeli peace than they are already.

Egypt, specifically, is upset about the Israeli Cabinet's decision to grant Jews the right to settle in the heart of the West Bank Arab town of Hebron. Thus far, most of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza have been located in rural areas or on the outskirts of Arab population centers; the Hebron decision understandably inflamed the Palestinian Arabs. Referring to Israel's settlements policy, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said that he was "sad but optimistic" and expressed the hope that the Israeli government would "drop all these difficulties they are putting on the road to peace." But Cairo's influential daily al Ahram has sharply criticized Israel's Ambassador-designate Eliahu Ben-Elissar, who is due to arrive in Cairo this week, for proclaiming that neither Egypt nor the U.S. can tell Israelis where they can and cannot live.

Sadat was also concerned over some other disturbing Middle East developments. In Lebanon, there was more sporadic fighting as the result of Syria's decision to withdraw most of its peacekeeping forces from Beirut. With the Syrian troops out, the Lebanese civil war may break out again, after an uneasy three-year truce.

Tensions in Beirut rose at week's end when a parked automobile exploded near the passing car of Bashir Gemayel, military commander of the Christian Phalangists. Gemayel was not in his car; but the blast, apparently the work of a rival Christian faction, killed his two-year-old daughter and seven others.

Also disturbing was news from Saudi Arabia that King Khalid, 67, had collapsed while hunting in the desert and had been flown to a hospital in Riyadh. Khalid underwent open-heart surgery in Cleveland in 1972 and 1978, and there were reports last week that he had suffered a serious heart attack. If Khalid were to die, he would presumably be succeeded by Crown Prince Fahd, and Saudi policies would remain much the same. But any political change could be unsettling in a country that is already in a state of jitters following the revolution in Iran and the seizure of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca by Muslim dissidents last November. At week's end Khalid received a group of Saudi religious leaders at his hospital bedside in order that, as the state radio put it, they might be "reassured about his health." -

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