Warm Welcomes

But some problems remain we closed the cycle of hostility, opening the chapter of blooming peace." So ended President Yitzhak Navon's welcoming speech to Saad Mortada, 57, Egypt's first Ambassador to Israel. A mood of lighthearted camaraderie followed the formal red-carpet ceremony as the two men joked and chatted together in Arabic. Before they parted company, hearty salvos of laughter were echoing through the main hall of Navon's official residence in Jerusalem. Mortada was so besieged with requests for interviews and invitations to dinner that he asked, "Does every new ambassador get this treatment?"

In Cairo, meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Ben Elissar, 48, bounded up the steps of Abdin Palace to present his credentials--along with those of new envoys of two other nations--to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. After an honor guard played the national anthems of Israel and Egypt, Sadat warmly shook hands with the bearded Israeli Ambassador and applauded the two countries' "determination to live together in peace and harmony." Ben Elissar both startled and pleased Sadat by asking his permission to place a wreath at a memorial to Egypt's unknown soldier.

Throughout the Arab world, last week's historic exchange of ambassadors --who accidentally met at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport as they were moving to their new posts--prompted a flurry of symbolic protests. These ranged from scattered demonstrations and Israeli flag burnings in Cairo to noontime traffic stoppages in Syria and general strikes among the Muslim populations of Beirut, the West Bank and Gaza. Even such moderate Arab states as the Sudan and Saudi Arabia expressed their displeasure, while spokesmen for the Palestine Liberation Organization blasted Sadat and the Camp David agreement that led to the normalization of relations between Egypt and Israel.

The expressions of official good will scarcely hid the mutual suspicions that still threaten to disturb the new official peace between Egypt and Israel. Even last week there were ruffled feelings over Washington's announcement that it would furnish Cairo with an impressive array of sophisticated weapons, including 40 F-16 fighter jets and 250 M-60 tanks. The U.S. also agreed in principle to sell Egypt an unspecified number of F-15s, the most advanced fighters in the West's arsenal.

The promised access to the F-15s was hailed by the Egyptians as proof of their "equal footing" with Israel as faithful allies of the U.S. in the Middle East. In addition to asking Congress to approve this military aid package, involving $4 billion in credits over the next five years, the Carter Administration plans to propose an extra $200 million in aid to help Cairo finance the weaponry.

The announcement of the arms agreement prompted Israeli Premier Menachem Begin to voice reservations about "the quantity and quality of these arms." He seemed especially concerned about the F-15s. The Israelis clearly feared that such advanced weaponry could be used against them should Sadat ever be ousted from power and Egypt revert to an anti-Israeli stance.

Upset by Begin's apprehensions, the Egyptian Cabinet expressed "astonishment at this] strange statements." Complained Sadat: "I don't understand why there should be criticism of weapons supplies to Egypt after we have built the monument to peace." But Sadat discreetly withdrew his request for the F-15s after U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense David McGiffert convinced him last week that the plane's high price tag would eat up too much of the aid package.

The arms deal was concluded just as American, Egyptian and Israeli negotiators were preparing to meet at The Hague for the tenth round of talks on the future status of the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians. In a terse communique following the two-day meeting, U.S. Middle East Ambassador Sol Linowitz joined Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Khalil and Israeli Interior Minister Yosef Burg in declaring ambiguously that "the heart of the matter" had been reached. The participants agreed to meet again in Cairo at the end of March in hopes of resolving some of the substantive differences between Jerusalem and Cairo on Palestinian autonomy.

At the United Nations, the U.S. late last week joined in a unanimous vote by the Security Council to adopt a resolution calling on Israel to dismantle its settlements on occupied Arab land. The resolution was introduced after the Israeli Cabinet announced plans to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank. Said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Donald F. McHenry of his vote: "We regard settlements in the occupied territories as illegal under international law and an obstacle to a successful outcome to the current negotiations." -

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