The Road to El Arish

A sense of apprehension over the negotiations ahead

It was at least a symbol of what the partners in peace had accomplished: last week the blue-and-white Israeli flag flew above the highest rampart of the Kubbeh Palace, official residence of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Arriving in Cairo for a 27-hour state visit, Israeli Premier Menachem Begin found his host somewhat absorbed in his foundering relations with other Arab nations. But after a day of cordial talks, the two leaders were able to announce the next steps in the peace process. On May 26, Israel will return the Sinai town of El Arish to Egyptian sovereignty. On the following day Sadat and Begin will fly together from El Arish to Beersheba in the Israeli Negev desert for further discussions.

The two leaders also confirmed some other matters that had been largely settled in Washington last month. A direct telephone hot line will be set up immediately between Cairo and Jerusalem, and after the El Arish meeting next month, air links will be established between the two countries.

Begin was in a notably euphoric mood when he reported to a somewhat skeptical Knesset on his latest travels. With a touch of awe in his voice, the Premier declared that "they played the Hatikva [the Israeli national anthem] in Cairo." Shouted right-wing Backbencher Geula Cohen: "They will play it in Amman [Jordan] as well, if you give them Jerusalem!" But the members of parliament were generally appreciative until Begin mentioned the only new agreement to come from the trip: Sadat had agreed that the Israelis could keep a laundry at Kibbutz Neot-Sinai, a mile east of El Arish, until the final withdrawal from the peninsula in early 1983. That news brought a chorus of catcalls from hecklers: "What about the laundry? Is that your biggest achievement?"

A day later Begin made an unhappy visit to Yamit, one of fifteen Sinai settlements that will be returned to Egyptian sovereignty under the peace plan. Though the residents were angry, they listened quietly as Begin told them that the choice had been between peace or giving up the Sinai communities: "I know it hurts. It hurts me too. But all we did was for peace and for the future of the Israeli people." One problem concerning the transition of the Sinai to Egyptian control is that the mandate of the 4,000 U.N. soldiers presently on duty there is scheduled to end on July 24. The Soviet Union has already served notice that it is reluctant to have them remain in the Sinai beyond that date. The U.S. hopes to change Moscow's mind; failing that, it will try to assemble a multinational force to patrol the Sinai until the Israeli withdrawal is complete.

Begin's visit to Cairo had come at a slightly awkward moment for Sadat. Meeting in Baghdad, the Foreign Ministers of 18 Arab countries and the Palestine Liberation Organization had agreed to take diplomatic and economic action against Egypt, including the breaking of diplomatic relations and the removal of Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Tunis. On the day of Begin's arrival, in fact, almost all Arab ambassadors were bound for Cairo airport on their way home. Sadat's willingness to receive Begin at such a moment suggested to foreign observers the degree of his determination to stay on his present course.

A more telling sign of that purpose was a spirited, three-hour speech by Sadat to the People's Assembly, in which he strongly defended the treaty he had signed with Israel. Sadat dismissed the Baghdad meeting as "emotional, hysterical, and insulting to Egypt." Replying to the Arabs' charges of treason, Sadat declared: "Egypt is not and has never been a traitor. I did not achieve peace for the sake of materialism; I wanted to put an end to an unending situation. When I can save my people from the misery of war, there is no price tag involved."

Sadat, who late last week decided to recall his ambassadors from Saudi Arabia and six other Arab countries, refrained from criticizing the Saudis; he hopes they will continue to provide him with $1.5 billion a year in economic aid. But he had angry words for other Arab leaders who opposed him at Baghdad. He denounced his onetime friend and ally Syrian President Hafez Assad as "a coward." As for another old friend, Jordan's King Hussein, Sadat recalled scornfully that while the Syrians and Jordanians were massacring the Palestinians in years past, Egypt was helping them gain recognition. Sadat also denounced Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who has been Sadat's enemy for several years and recently reinforced his troops along the Egyptian border. Sadat left little doubt that, if the Libyans gave him a reasonable excuse, he would move his own forces across the border to teach Gaddafi a lesson.

Sadat also urged the Palestinians to join in forthcoming talks on autonomous rule for the West Bank and Gaza and to realize that "demonstrations will not throw the occupation troops out of your land." As for the leaders of the P.L.O., Sadat warned: "If they try to seize or harm one of our ambassadors, I will retaliate. I will not return one stab with two, but with a hundred, or a thousand."

Even as Sadat spoke, a campaign of P.L.O. terrorism in protest against the Egyptian-Israeli treaty was under way. A bomb exploded at Frankfurt airport in a package bound for an Israeli school in Jerusalem. The American embassy in Beirut was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades, and there were sabotage attempts made against Israeli and Egyptian embassies and airline offices in Cyprus and Turkey. U.S. companies in Norway were warned against terrorist attacks coinciding with the visit of Vice President Walter Mondale in mid-April. Acting on a tip, the Israelis captured a small ship with six terrorists aboard as it sailed from Cyprus toward Israel's Mediterranean coast.

On all sides there was a sense of apprehension about the next stage of negotiations, which will probably begin during the second week of May. The subject is the crucial problem of the Middle East, the future of the Palestinians. So far, the Israelis and the Egyptians are far apart on their concepts of what autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza means. As one U.S. analyst puts it, "For Begin, 'autonomy' is barely a millimeter beyond what exists now. For Sadat, it's a millimeter or so short of full sovereignty."

The negotiators, who for at least the present will again include only Egypt, Israel and the U.S., must somehow devise a formula that the Palestinians, as well as the moderate Arabs, will recognize as real and not sham autonomy. One key issue is whether the self-governing councils to be set up for the West Bank and Gaza will have control over land and water. That would give the Arab residents the authority to curb Israeli settlements and the right to drill for water on public land, something that has been largely denied them since the Israeli occupation began in 1967. Predicts one U.S. analyst: "If the self-governing authority that is decided on is a real one-not just the dog catchers and the garbage collectors--then the people in the area will get involved. They'll run for election."

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