Clash Between Friends

The U.S. and Israel quarrel over warplanes and settlements

Relations between Jerusalem and Washington hit a new low last week. Israeli Premier Menachem Begin lashed out at the Carter Ad ministration, and particularly at Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, for "taking sides" against Israel in criticizing the existence of Israeli settlements in the Sinai. Two days later the Carter Administration announced its long awaited decision to permit the sale of nearly $3 billion worth of advanced jet aircraft to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as $1.9 billion worth of planes to Israel. The Israelis protested loudly, especially about the sale to the Saudis. But neither Washington nor Jerusalem can afford to let the argument get out of hand, and so the Administration announced that Begin would visit Washington again within the next two or three weeks to talk things over.

The sharpest exchange centered on the legality of the Israeli settlements. Two weeks ago, Vance not only declared that the U.S. considered the settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace but also added that they "should not exist." Al though his comments reflected longstanding U.S. policy, Vance's words were a bit blunter than usual, and they made Begin see red. Summoning reporters, the Premier read what was surely the toughest official Israeli blast at Washington since Golda Meir rejected the Rogers peace plan eight years ago. The statement expressed "regret and protest" about the Vance remark, insisted that the settlements were "legal, legitimate and essential," and even suggested that Vance's views on the matter did not square with those of his boss. President Carter defended his Secretary of State the next day in a firm statement read by Press Secretary Jody Powell: There was "no contradiction" between Vance's remark and any statement ever made by the President.

No issue has poisoned U.S.-Israeli relation's more than that of the settlements. The present misunderstanding apparently started last summer when State Department legal experts began giving some credence to Israeli arguments that settlements within existing army camps located on occupied territory are not illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; it says that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." Thereafter, on Oct. 2, the Begin government authorized the first of nine new settlements. The problem lies in the fact that the last four of these settlements were placed in army "camps" that had been created only a few weeks earlier--and obviously for the sole purpose of providing an excuse for a civilian settlement. At Karnei Shomron, a West Bank settlement into which civilians moved last week, the military facilities consist of a single guard hut and two shacks for billeting ten to 20 reservists.

Begin's emotional outburst on the settlements issue raised new doubts about his government's interest in seeing its talks with Egypt succeed. One U.S. official exclaimed: "Our position against settlements is more than ten years old. Do we have to mention every one of our reservations about every subject every time he talks with the President? My God. at that rate every talk would take months!"

Some influential Israelis are beginning to express similar frustrations. Former Premier Yitzhak Rabin spoke out sharply against Begin's settlements policy, accusing him of preoccupation with legalisms that are "childish and of no account in serious political situations." He added, "What facts is the government trying to create in the midst of the negotiation process? What would happen if the other side tried to do such things? How can one respect a government that carries out settlements whether under an archaeological [i.e., the disputed West Bank settlement at Shiloh] or a security cover?" Rabin's summary of how his successor has handled the negotiations: "An ill-conceived failure."

Begin had even more to complain about when the Carter Administration announced its long awaited "package" proposal for the sale of aircraft to Egypt. Saudi Arabia and Israel. According to the plan, Egypt will be permitted to buy 50 F-5E short-range fighter-bombers--its first warplanes from the U.S.--at a cost of $400 million; Saudi Arabia will be allowed to buy 60 of one of the world's most sophisticated fighters, the F-15, at a cost of $2.5 billion, to replace its aging fleet of British Lightning jets; and Israel will be permitted to buy 15 F-15s (in addition to 25 currently being delivered), as well as 75 of the smaller but still very advanced F-16 (total cost: $1.9 billion).

Jerusalem is determined to fight the sale to the Saudis on the ground that it represents a strategic threat to Israel's security. Said a high Foreign Ministry official to TIME Jerusalem Bureau Chief Donald Neff: "Does anyone doubt that in a future war the Saudis would come under Arab pressure to use these planes against Israel?" As it is, the Saudis along with Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, plan to spend $10 billion to construct a new military-manufacturing city of 80,000 to 100,000 people 35 miles southeast of Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Its purpose: to build air-to-air and air-to-surface missile systems.

Congress has the power to block Carter's warplane sale plan, and there is bound to be a big fight over it on Capitol Hill this spring. Eleven members of the 15-man Senate Foreign Relations Committee had previously warned Vance against the sale to the Saudis. In 1976 Gerald Ford had promised the Saudis the F-15, but decided not to proceed with the sale during an election year. Reminded of that commitment by Riyadh, Carter agreed to honor Ford's pledge. The President also felt it important to extend arms to Sadat at this stage; he reasoned that for domestic political reasons it would be best to announce the latest decision on arms sales to the Israelis at the same time.

The numbers of planes involved were worked out scrupulously, and a high Administration official insists, "These numbers are not subject to a lot of haggling." Washington also maintains that the sales would not alter the basic military balance in the region. But, as critics of the decision's timing point out, since deliveries of the F-15s and F-16s are nearly four years away, the announcement could have been delayed until progress had been made in resumed talks between Egypt and Israel.

The next chapter in the Middle East negotiations will begin when Assistant Secretary of State Alfred ("Roy") Atherton resumes the shuttle between Cairo and Jerusalem in an effort to get the two sides to agree on a statement of principles that would govern a peace agreement. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had left Cairo three weeks ago in a mood of depression He returned last week buoyed by the support he received in the U.S. and in six European nations.

On the Israeli side, Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan was already in the U.S. to do some fund raising and talk with Carter and Vance; after his session at the White House, he noted that "significant differences" remained regarding the settlements and the plane sale to the Saudis. Next week Defense Minister Ezer Weizman is due in Washington, and Begin will probably arrive the week after that. Washington wags were already debating whether Begin would get the same treatment, including a Camp David weekend, as Sadat. Joked one Jewish community leader: "We clocked Carter when he went to meet Sadat on the White House lawn. He'd better not walk any slower toward Begin."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.