Avoiding a Crisis

No more settlements--for now

Israeli Premier Menachem Begin was lounging beside the pool of his government hideaway near Tel Aviv one morning last week when he received an urgent call from his Foreign Minister, Moshe Dayan. Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin had called a special Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Its purpose: to head off a crisis that was threatening to disrupt Jimmy Carter's plan for a meeting at Camp David between Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in early September.

The controversy had been set off by disclosures in the local press that the Israeli government was planning to establish five new settlements on the West Bank. This was in contradiction to Begin's promise to Cyrus Vance a week earlier: that Israel would refrain from starting any more such settlements until after the September summit.

From the Israelis' point of view, the problem stemmed less from duplicity than from the confusion of recent events. In late June, when it had appeared that the Middle East peace negotiations were seriously and perhaps permanently stalled, Begin and his senior colleagues had indeed approved a secret plan to build the villages. Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, a strong advocate of settlements, quietly went about the task of asking the various kibbutzim movements for volunteers. Soon the opposition Labor Party learned of the plan, and so did the press.

At first, government officials denied the story; some even claimed that Sharon, as chairman of the ministerial settlement committee, had made the decision on his own. This enraged Sharon, who told the Cabinet defiantly: "I will not let you hide behind my back." To avoid an open fight, the government lamely admitted the truth, and Yadin then scheduled the Cabinet meeting to decide on further action. It was at this point that Dayan telephoned the vacationing Premier for instructions. Begin flatly told his Foreign Minister that he wanted the Cabinet to halt the plan for the time being.

With the crisis over, Begin looked forward to a happier event: his 65th-birth-day celebration later in the week, at which he was to host an open house for hundreds of relatives, friends and colleagues. In truth, he had a lot to celebrate. His health was greatly improved following an attack last June of pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart. Moreover, his political popularity appeared to be rising again; the hopes of the Israeli public had clearly been buoyed by news of the Camp David summit.

There was no sign that Begin had any important new ideas to offer or concessions to make, even though he had a great deal riding on that meeting. Until then, his critics--the Israelis who regard their Premier as an obstacle to peace--will presumably sit on their hands and hope he will prove them wrong. But if the summit fails disastrously, his own aides admit, a disenchantment with Begin's leadership could quickly set in.

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