Looking for a Friend

"You've got two different kinds of people in Sadat and Begin," one of President Jimmy Carter's close aides observed last week. "Begin is hung up on history and the nuances in every word. Sadat couldn't care less about all that crap.What he wants is to get on with a peace settlement."

The nuances of every word have proved discouraging to Egypt's President Anwar Sadat over the past month or more. Though the ministerial-level talks between Egyptians and Israelis were revived last week, the two countries are still far apart on the overall "statement of principles" that Sadat feels is necessary as a framework for Middle East peace negotiations. And though the Israelis talked of being willing to negotiate all disputed issues, they keep pressing forward with their policy of establishing illegal settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Sinai (see WORLD).

In a new effort to "boost the momentum for peace," Sadat set out last week on what was planned as a ten-day, eight-nation journey in search of support--diplomatic, military and moral. "A heavy and difficult job lies ahead," he said. His main destination, of course, after a brief stopover in Morocco, was Washington. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was on hand, along with the red-uniformed Marine Band, to welcome the Egyptian leader to Andrews Air Force Base late Friday afternoon. Sadat, accompanied by his elegant wife, Jihan, his 21-year-old son, Gamal, and two of his six daughters, Noha, 20, and Jihan, 17, saluted the American Secretary, then ducked into an Air Force helicopter for the hop to the South Lawn of the White House. There Jimmy Carter rushed to embrace him. In a brief statement, Sadat quickly disclosed his main concern, warning firmly against any "rigidity" or "fanaticism" that might interrupt "the holy march on the road to peace." He urged that the U.S. become "the arbiter."

That same evening, the two Presidents helicoptered to the seclusion of nearby Camp David, the Catoctin Mountain retreat where seven previous U.S. Presidents have sought diplomatic privacy with other world leaders. The press was barred, and even Washington's eager officialdom was reduced to a select handful.* Carter and Sadat had some 50 hours available for candid and unfettered discussion.

Officials in both Cairo and Washington cautioned against any expectations of spectacular or decisive results from Sadat's visit. But despite all the efforts to keep the discussions private, the main concerns on the minds of both leaders were no secret. Flying to the U.S. on Sadat's gleaming red, white and black Presidential Special, Egyptian officials admitted their dismay at the recent course of events. On Sadat's trip to Washington last April, Carter had convinced him that Israel wanted a detailed and permanent resolution of the Middle East conflict rather than a mere termination of the long state of belligerency. Sadat felt that he had amply responded by his spectacular visit to Israel in November, his "sacred mission." But after that breakthrough, Egyptian officials argued, Israel balked at making any real concessions. "There has even been some retrogression," said one Egyptian diplomat, "since the Israelis now are insisting on retaining and defending their settlements in the Sinai."

Carter declared once again last week that he considered the settlements "illegal" and "an obstacle to peace." But U.S. officials hoped the Egyptians understood that there were limits to the pressures the U.S. could apply. "Unfortunately," said one, "Sadat still thinks all we have to do is snap our fingers to get Israel to do our bidding. We're going to try to disabuse him of that notion."

The Egyptian President is particularly concerned about U.S. arms sales in the Middle East. He feels that Israeli intransigence is a direct result of its huge military force, derived from U.S. aid. Sadat wants the U.S. to sell Egypt up to 120 F-5E fighter planes, priced at about $5 million each, to replace the deteriorating planes acquired from the Russians since 1955. But even more urgently, Sadat's advisers want the U.S. to delay indefinitely compliance with an Israeli request for the more sophisticated $10 million F-16 fighter. "To introduce this aircraft into the Middle East would create a dangerous military escalation," an Egyptian official warned. Carter's top Defense and State Department advisers have urged him to grant Sadat's requests. "The planes the Russians gave him are falling apart," said one U.S. official.

More generally, Sadat hoped to convince Carter that the U.S. should produce a plan for a comprehensive Middle East settlement and present it to both Egypt and Israel in private, as the basis for further negotiations, or unveil it publicly. Sadat presumably expected that such American proposals would be close to his own. Carter, however, seemed unlikely to abandon the present U.S. insistence that the nations in the Middle East work out the specifics of any agreement among themselves.

White House officials approached the Camp David summit in more personal and psychological terms. While they have been angered by Israeli intransigence over the settlements, they have also been concerned about Sadat's abrupt and somewhat emotional withdrawal from the Foreign Ministers' talks in Jerusalem. Thus Carter was expected to praise Sadat's initiatives and urge him to work more patiently in low-key bargaining. Beyond that, U.S. officials felt it was important to strengthen Sadat's morale. Explained one insider: "We've simply got to give him the confidence that we're going to stick with it. At best, we want to lay the basis for a firm understanding for the months ahead, so that future disappointments don't lead to surprises and shifts on his part."

But even as the U.S. was urging Sadat to engage the Israelis in private peace talks, the eager and worried Egyptian seemed determined to pursue his all-out style of public diplomacy. Before leaving for the U.S., Sadat last week sent off "An Open Letter to American Jews," published in the Miami Herald. He urged them to "revive the spirit of accommodation and meaningful coexistence" in order to "reinforce our belief in the oneness of the human cause." He complained that "the Israeli government in the past few weeks has been negative and disappointing."

Once the Camp David talks ended, Sadat was embarking on a three-day public relations blitz that included a speaking engagement at Washington's National Press Club, a nationally televised interview and a meeting with a group of writers and editors. Sadat also planned to press his case before highly skeptical American Jewish leaders, meet members of the House and Senate Foreign Relations committees, and work in visits with such varied personalities as former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, CIA Director Stansfield Turner and the AFL-CIO's secretary-treasurer Lane Kirkland.

Considering all of the emotions swirling about the Middle East issues, and the candor and unpredictability of Anwar Sadat, U.S. hopes of a return to quiet, cautious diplomacy seem optimistic.

* The Carters, Vance, Assistant Secretary of State Alfred Atherton Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Hermann Eilts, National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, NSC Assistant William Quandt, Presidential Assistant Hamilton Jordan and Press Secretary Jody Powell.

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