They Aren't Saying Much

But there is still a great deal to talk about.

The chasm of disagreement between Jerusalem and Cairo on the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip continues to block a possible Middle East peace agreement--much to Washington's dismay. At his press conference last week, President Carter pledged that the U.S. "will not back off" from its determination to work for an Arab-Israeli settlement. He also categorized as "very disappointing" the Israeli government's refusal to concede that sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza will ever be relinquished. The President then observed, disapprovingly, that Israel had also "rejected an Egyptian proposal [on the territories] that has not yet even been made." Carter was referring to a declaration by the Israeli Cabinet that it "unreservedly rejects" what were reported to be the principles of a proposal that was being prepared by Egypt.

Leaked accounts of the Egyptian plan had indicated that Cairo would suggest that the West Bank be placed under Jordanian rule and Gaza under Egyptian control for five years. During that time, a final settlement for the two areas could be negotiated, along with security arrangements for Israel. Jerusalem has its reasons to be wary of such a scheme: it would require Israel to give up the occupied lands, its major bargaining chip in negotiations, even before talks turn to the crucial issue of the future status of the territory concerned. But respect for diplomatic niceties should have persuaded the Israelis to delay their dismissal of the plan until it had officially been announced.

Despite Israel's pre-emptive rejection, Egypt still intends to formally submit its West Bank and Gaza scheme to the U.S. later this month. With both Egyptian and Israeli plans then on the bargaining table (Jerusalem submitted a 26-point proposal last December), the Carter Administration hopes that a quickened tempo of negotiations might narrow the differences between the two sides. This was a theme stressed by Vice President Walter Mondale, who arrived in Israel last week on a four-day good-will visit in honor of the country's 30th anniversary. While publicly stressing the "solid and unshakeable commitment" linking the U.S. to Israel, he privately urged Premier Menachem Begin and other Israeli leaders to show more flexibility.

Accompanying Mondale, at U.S.-Government expense, were more than a dozen prominent U.S. Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Alexander Schindler, the outgoing chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and his successor, Theodore Mann. The White House hoped their presence might persuade the Israelis that the Administration's Middle East policies enjoy the backing of the American Jewish community. (Other U.S. Jewish leaders, however, refused to join the Mondale entourage.) From Israel, the Vice President planned to stop briefly in Egypt to see President Anwar Sadat.

Whether Mondale's advice to Begin will be followed is far from certain. At his airport speech, for example, the Premier pointedly welcomed the Vice President to Eretz Yisrael--the land of Israel. As used by Begin, this term provocatively includes the West Bank.

Amid rumors of Begin's weakening health and growing signs in the ruling coalition of dissatisfaction with his handling of the peace process, TIME has learned that Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres has begun trying to form a broad centrist coalition to replace the Premier. Peres has already agreed to join a Cabinet headed by Begin's Defense Minister Ezer Weizman. If Peres is able to win the premiership for himself, he is prepared to keep both Weizman and Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan at their posts.

If there is any evidence of renewed momentum toward a Middle East peace, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance may fly to the area at the end of July for some personal diplomacy. But chances of making any progress in negotiations depend largely on whether the Israeli and Arab views on the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip can be reconciled. Leaders of the more than 1 million Palestinian inhabitants of these territories demand self-determination in what they regard as their homeland. The Begin plan, endorsed by the Knesset after nearly twelve hours of heated debate, merely proposed the creation of an autonomous Palestinian region endowed with a modest measure of self-rule. Israel would retain much of its present control of the territories, and the status of 70 Israeli settlements there would be unchanged. In the Israeli plan, moreover, there was not even a hint that the region might eventually gain independence; the issue of sovereignty was postponed for five years.

The tough Israeli stand on the occupied territories is motivated by a legitimate concern with security. The West Bank bulges deeply into the Jewish state; its western rim is within artillery range of Tel Aviv, and its mountain heights loom ominously over the main land route from that city to Jerusalem. A hostile Arab army on the West Bank could readily reach the Mediterranean, thereby cutting Israel in half with little advance warning. Terrorists, using the West Bank as a sanctuary, could strike at almost any target in Israel.

Israelis were tragically reminded of this danger once again. The day before Vice President Mondale arrived, a bomb exploded in a crowded Jerusalem marketplace. Tearing apart a vegetable stand, the blast killed two Israelis and wounded about three-dozen others. Claiming "credit" for the violent act was the Palestine Liberation Organization, which boasted that "an underground squad" based in the West Bank had set the bomb. It was the 14th such explosion this year, bringing the death total to eleven, with more than 120 injured.

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