The Somewhat Secret Pressure

Out of a four-day conference of Arab Premiers in Cairo last week came 22 secret resolutions. Since intrigue is as commonplace as sand in the Middle East, everyone was soon publicly discussing the clandestine clauses.

The most important were aimed at an odd pair of bedfellows -- Israel and West Germany. Following up plans decided on at the Arab Summit in Alex andria last September, the conferees agreed to push ahead toward cutting off Israel's water with the building of a pumping station on the Wazzani River, which flows through Lebanon and Syria into Israel. By a series of locks, tun nels and canals, the water is to be fed around Israel and into Jordan.

Fearing Israeli retaliation, tiny Lebanon last week tried to beg off. Its Premier, Hussein Oweini, suggested that the pumping station might be built in Syria instead of Lebanon. When the other Arab leaders wrathfully pointed out that the only possible Syrian location was so close to the frontier that it lay within range of Israeli guns, Oweini finally gave in. But, nervous at the risk of foreign politics on his soil, he rejected the proposal that troops from other Arab states be stationed in Lebanon for "protection" against the Israelis.

The Arabs' second main goal was intended to force reduction of West German aid to Israel. The Arab Pre miers warned Bonn that they just might retaliate by recognizing East Germany. This heavy-handed blackmail was rejected by Bundestag President Eugen Gerstenmaier, who replied: "It goes too far when some other state, against which we have nothing, tries to stop us from giving aid to Israel."

Past experience has shown that joint Arab threats are seldom followed by joint Arab action. The diversion of the Jordan waters, even if construction is ever started, will take some six years to complete. And the blackmail against Bonn may well backfire, since the West German aid of $242 million to the 13 Arab states would be cut off with the breaking of diplomatic relations. That is a sum the Arabs could scarcely hope to obtain from East Germany.

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