Strain Between Friends

If anyone ever had any doubts, Israel made it clear once again that it has no intention of returning all, or even most, of the Arab territory it seized in 1967. In fact, suggestions that it do so, particularly when they are from friends, only make the Israelis dig in deeper. Last week the Israelis were upset by a U.S. proposal that Israel give back almost all of the territory in return for security provided by an international peace-keeping force. Despite efforts on both sides to keep their disagreement at a low key, the episode clearly showed that Washington and Jerusalem are far apart on the territory question--and that the distance is putting a growing strain on U.S.-Israeli relations.

The argument was starkly defined when Secretary of State William Rogers reiterated an earlier proposal that peace-keeping forces be stationed along an Egypt-Israel truce line that would incorporate only "insubstantial" changes from Israel's 1967 borders. The proposed force would be under United Nations supervision and for the first time would include not only the troops of neutral nations like Ireland or India, but those of the U.S. and, in a surprising suggestion, of the Soviet Union as well. This, said Rogers, was the way to keep peace in the Middle East. "In modern-day world situations, geography is not ordinarily important," he said. "What is important is the political arrangement that is made."

Two Formulas. Rogers' remarks struck sparks in Israel which is already sensitive over a suggestion by U.N. Secretary-General U Thant that it is being stubborn about peace negotiations in the face of a positive attitude on the part of Egypt. To be chastised by a friend like Rogers heightened the Israeli siege mentality. Premier Golda Meir, addressing a Labor Party Central Committee meeting, was so angry that she came close to diplomatic insult. "We cannot rely on Rogers' plan," she said, "even if he does make it in good faith." Other officials supported her with unanimity. "All the modern developments in military technology cannot negate the importance of geographically defensible positions," argued Deputy Premier Yigal Allon.

Flying off to Washington, Foreign Minister Abba Eban pressed Israel's arguments in meetings with Rogers and White House Adviser Henry Kissinger. Israel, Eban said, could "think of no device" to protect itself except secure borders. Moreover, it must negotiate them in its own way. If the price of such negotiation was estrangement, said Eban, then "a nation must sometimes be willing to live in a state of tenacious solitude." At home, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan echoed Eban's determination. "We shall be left with two different formulas," he said, "an American one and an Israeli one, and the formulas will have to coexist."

Election Timing. Eventually, Israel will have to make a firm decision about exactly what territories to give back. The country's right-wingers, whose spokesman is Gahal Party Leader Menahem Begin, stand for a policy of "not one inch." Mrs. Meir's party is more adaptable but insists on keeping Sharm el Sheikh, the Golan Heights and a protective presence on the West Bank. In an interview with the Times of London two weeks ago, Mrs. Meir said that she would gladly give up most of Sinai and nearly all of the West Bank in return for a peace treaty. The interview led to demands from Begin for a vote of confidence in the Knesset, Israel's Parliament. Mrs. Meir won the vote handily last week, but not before a dispute over voting procedures led to a half-hour demonstration during which Knesset members verbally assaulted one another and shook their fists across the aisles.

Before any territory is returned, Israel's government will probably call a national election to make certain of its mandate. Mrs. Meir last week threw broad hints to Labor Party leaders that perhaps the time for elections is not far off, since the party is strong and might win enough Knesset seats to govern without a coalition for the first time in Israel's history. Realistically, the Israelis would probably time any election to the political situation in the U.S., hoping to form a new government--and face the decision of what territory to give up--at about the time the U.S. election campaign was warming up. That would be an inappropriate point for either Democrats or Republicans to pressure Israel on the question of occupied territories. Such a strategy, however, presupposes continued calm in the Middle East, and the likelihood of that is uncertain. When two Israeli Phantom jets crossed the Egyptian lines near Port Fuad last week, they were chased by MIGs and shot at by Egyptian antiaircraft guns--the first serious shots heard along the canal in eight months.

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