The Points at Issue in the Hostile Middle East

QHOULD Israel and the Arab states agree to stop shooting and start talking, the mechanism that will get the negotiations under way will be a letter --already drawn up--from Swedish Mediator Gunnar V. Jarring to United Nations Secretary General U Thant. In the letter Jarring will report that the parties involved are ready to designate representatives "to discussions to be held under my auspices." The purpose of the discussions, the Jarring communique will state, will be "to reach agreement on the establishment of a just and lasting peace between the U.A.R., Jordan and Israel, based on 1) mutual acknowledgment of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence, and 2) Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 conflict."

Despite its seeming simplicity, the Jarring letter introduces some complex, intractable issues. Among them:

CONDUCT OF THE TALKS. Israel has always maintained that the two sides must eventually meet face to face. The Arabs prefer to negotiate indirectly, perhaps as they did after the 1948 war, when U.N. Mediator Ralph Bunche moved between delegations on the island of Rhodes. Rogers' letter to the Arabs accepted their point of view, but noted that "we believe the parties will find it necessary to meet together at some point."

PEACE TREATY. Israel wants a contractual arrangement that would bind the sides firmly. The Arabs are not anxious to be signatories to a formal peace treaty.

RECOGNITION. In spite of having celebrated its 22nd birthday, Israel has never been formally recognized as a state by the Arabs. A peace treaty, in addition to establishing just and secure borders, would finally afford acknowledgment of this right to exist. Nasser last week indicated possible agreement.

REFUGEES. U.N. Resolution 242, the starting point for the talks, says with deliberate imprecision that there must be a "just settlement of the refugee problem." At issue is the future of the Palestinian Arabs, many of whom fled from Israel in 1948 or 1967; their numbers have grown from 1,000,000 to 2,500,000. The Arabs maintain that Israel must absorb those who choose to return and pay compensation to those who do not. Israel maintains that 1) the Arabs no longer own the land they held before 1948 and therefore cannot claim it, 2) the return of so many refugees would alter the character of the country, and 3) there is no precedent since World War I for refugees to be repatriated.

One alternative, suggested by many Israelis, and even the Soviets, would be to create a Palestinian state on the West Bank of the Jordan. Another, put forward by Arabs, is to change the very basis of Israel from a Jewish homeland to a secular, multinational state.

TERRITORIES. The Israelis insist that security, not territory, is the real issue. The Arabs insist on Israeli withdrawal from all the land occupied during the Six-Day War. Israel is willing to return less strategic territories like the West Bank and Western Sinai, but in any case wants to negotiate entirely new borders, with a guarantee of their legitimacy and security, to replace unofficial ones that have existed since 1949. Some territorial solutions, apart from converting the Jordan's West Bank into a state:

> Sinai--The Sinai Peninsula represents an important buffer zone. An alternative to returning Sinai to Egypt would be to demilitarize it and station an international peace-keeping force there. The Israelis, remembering that U Thant's removal of U.N. forces from Sinai in the face of pressure from Egypt in 1967 led to war, want some other international force this time.

> Gaza Strip--Formerly held by Egypt, Gaza is packed with 358,000 Arabs whom the Israelis have had a difficult time policing. Still, Israel wants the territory to straighten out a nagging border. An alternative is international control, or to link Gaza to a Palestine state.

>Golan Heights--The Syrian-Israeli border mountains were captured by Israel in 1967 at a cost of 115 killed. The victory finally silenced the Syrian guns that had rained down death on Israeli kibbutzim on and off for two decades. Syria wants the Heights back, but Israel is unlikely to relinquish the territory without the firmest assurances that it has been demilitarized.

>Sharm el Sheikh--Strategically set at the point in Sinai where the Gulf of Aqaba meets the Red Sea, Sharm el Sheikh's guns command the narrow Strait of Tiran. In 1967, Nasser used them to bar passage to Eilat, Israel's only outlet to the Indian Ocean. Israel now controls the vantage point, and so far insists on keeping it. The Israelis might yield it, however, if a peace treaty guaranteed access to Eilat as well as unimpeded passage for Israeli ships through the Suez Canal.

> Jerusalem--No Israeli victory in 1967 was celebrated more joyously than the capture of East Jerusalem. For the first time in nearly 2,000 years the Wailing Wall, the remains of Solomon's temple compound, was in Jewish hands. Israel has vowed never to give back the Wall. But East Jerusalem is also sacred to Moslems and Christians. International control, with Israel perhaps handling municipal administration, could be a workable resolution.

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