Echoes of Camp David

Carter invites Sadat and Begin to Washington

Stalemate and stagnation." That is how Egyptian President Anwar Sadat last week described his fears for the fate of the autonomy talks with Israel about the future of the Palestinians. And he was right. With the May 26 deadline for the negotiations only two months away, the discussions had bogged down, at least with respect to what anybody would have called substantive issues. Reviewing the situation, Jimmy Carter decided it was once again time to invoke the spirit, if not the reality, of Camp David. Carter's ploy: to invite Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin to visit him separately in Washington next month. The President was careful to play down the inevitable comparisons with Camp David; this time there were no plans for a summit bringing together the three men. But the President hoped that the talks would lead to new efforts by the two leaders to settle their differences.

After next month's meetings were announced, a senior White House official declared: "We have now come to a point at which both the Egyptians and the Israelis confront the need to make some tough decisions." Despite that evenhanded appraisal, the White House feels that Sadat has conformed to the spirit and the letter of the Camp David agreements far more than have the Israelis. Carter believes that Begin will have to make the major concessions for further accords. In turn, the Israeli leader is fully prepared to resist any attempt by Carter to pressure him into modifying his stands. Said a Begin aide: "The minimum we expect from the meeting is that there will be a clear-cut definition of where we stand in the autonomy negotiations. Beyond that, we look upon it as an opportunity to dramatize the progress that has been made without the pressure of deadlines and ultimatums."

The White House took pains to state that Carter had no plans to hard-sell his visitors. Said a top Carter aide: "We do not intend to present specific American proposals, but we do want to hear what their ideas are for the remaining issues to be solved." White House Press Secretary Jody Powell made it clear that the President did not intend to re-enter the negotiations himself.

Both Begin and Sadat welcomed the meeting, which the Egyptian had suggested to the President in a letter three weeks ago. Nine rounds between Israeli and Egyptian negotiators, in addition to five face-to-face encounters between Begin and Sadat, have had only mixed results. Administration officials emphasize that some 20 issues involving the jurisdiction of the Palestinian body to be elected have been agreed upon; the local authority would have full power to tax, for example, and to run its own police force.

Still, formidable matters are unresolved, and Begin's aides think it would be unrealistic to expect a breakthrough in the negotiations by May 26. The Egyptians, for instance, want a large elected assembly of 50 to 100 representatives with real legislative power, but the Israelis want to make sure it is a small, strictly administrative body with no overtones of a future national parliament. On another issue, Begin flatly rejects Egypt's suggestion that East Jerusalem be ruled by the new council. Finally, while Sadat contends that the Israeli military administration must wither away once the self-governing authority takes hold, Begin--in defiance of a specific Camp David provision--has pledged that the Israeli army will stay on indefinitely as the "ultimate authority." The Egyptians also insist that the Israeli settlements on the West Bank are illegal and must be abandoned.

Sadat warned last week that "a new situation will exist" unless significant progress is made before the May 26 deadline. He did not explain, but behind the sphinxlike statement was the threat that a continuing stalemate could compel Egypt to turn toward Europe for support of a revised U.N. resolution. It would call for full Palestinian "self-determination," a code word for an independent Palestinian state. "We would be willing to support any forum that might bring a lasting, comprehensive peace," said Egyptian Premier Mustafa Khalil.

In Washington, officials said privately that Carter wanted to head off a move by European nations, led by Britain, to raise the issue at the U.N. The Europeans hope that the Palestine Liberation Organization might be induced to reciprocate by recognizing Israel's right to exist. But the Administration believes that the European initiative would disrupt the carefully cultivated negotiating process between Cairo and Jerusalem.

Carter also had a compelling reason of his own to try to break the stalemate: he wanted to overcome the hostility he caused among Jews in the U.S. three weeks ago when his Administration backed an anti-Israel resolution in the U.N., a vote that Carter later repudiated. The White House's announcement of the talks came just six days before the important New York primary. There, with the help of as many Jewish voters as he could attract, Carter hoped to knock out Ted Kennedy once and for all.

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