Quiet Talks by the Sea

By William E. Smith

The Alexandria duet takes a forward step "I am always optimistic by nature," said the President. "I am a born optimist," replied the Prime Minister.

Thus ended, on a cautiously encouraging note, the eleventh meeting in the past four years between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin. The mood was more somber than at most of the previous encounters: there were no exaggerated compliments, no excessive expressions of confidence, no crowds of cheering Egyptians to greet the visitors from Israel. But the two-day meeting in Alexandria did serve to reduce the tensions that had been building over the past three months. And it produced one accomplishment: a commitment by the two men to resume the long-stalled talks on autonomy for the 1.3 million Palestinian Arabs of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The last summit conference, held in the Israeli-administered Sinai town of Ofira in June, had been something of a holding action for Begin, who was facing elections at the end of that month. Whatever bonhomie the Ofira meeting produced was swiftly dissipated by Israel's surprise attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad only three days later. Sadat felt humiliated by both the nature and timing of the Israeli action against an Arab state. He was even angrier after the Israelis bombed Beirut in mid-July, killing some 300 people and wounding 800. So the first item of business at last week's talks was a full discussion of the Israeli attacks. Begin cited detailed military data to try to justify the strikes but his host remained noncommittal. "We have discussed this," Sadat said later, "but I should advise no comment."

Then the two men turned to the autonomy negotiations, which the Egyptians had broken off in May 1980 after Israel took steps to declare its sovereignty over Arab East Jerusalem. Begin bluntly asked Sadat when he thought the talks should be resumed. "Why not immediately?" declared Sadat, and the two quickly agreed to have ministerial delegations meet in Cairo on Sept. 23 and 24, soon after Begin's return from talks with President Ronald Reagan in Washington.

Both sides were anxious to show some progress. Israel, harshly condemned by much of the world for its Iraq and Lebanon bombings, is eager to demonstrate that the peace process is alive. Egypt, awaiting the final Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, scheduled for next April, wants to give Jerusalem no excuses for delaying the turnover. Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, a member of the ministerial committee on autonomy, arrived with suggestions to demilitarize, to some degree, the Israeli administration of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Sharon champions the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, but he recognized the need for a conciliatory gesture to the Egyptians last week.

Next on the agenda was a longstanding Israeli complaint: the slow progress of normalization between the two countries. The Israelis want more Egyptian tourists, more sport and cultural exchanges, more business opportunities. They are annoyed that only about 1,500 Egyptians have visited Israel since 1979, compared with more than 30,000 Israeli tourists who have traveled to Egypt, and they believe that the Cairo government has been deliberately discouraging such exchanges. They are also upset about anti-Israeli material appearing in the Egyptian press. Said an Israeli official: "We told the Egyptians very simply that if the Israeli public sees that there is no normalization before the final Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, in April 1982, then our public is not going to believe there will be peace afterward." Though many Egyptians still find it difficult to deal with Israel because of what they consider Jerusalem's intransigence, Sadat apparently accepted the Israeli argument. He ordered his Foreign Minister, Kamal Hassan Ali, to "solve these problems immediately."

As the two-day meeting ended, spirits seemed to rise. Begin said he hoped the month-old cease-fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border would "last forever." Sadat, who has previously urged Israel to negotiate directly with the Palestine Liberation Organization, said he was not advocating that the Palestinians be brought into the autonomy talks at the present time. To the satisfaction of his Israeli guests, he added that he did not regard the P.L.O. as the "sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people." In reply to a reporter's question, Sadat insisted that there would be no change in Egyptian policy toward Israel once the rest of the Sinai is back in Egyptian hands next year. "What we have reached together is a full strategic agreement," said Sadat, "and strategy means continuance."

But the two sides remained far apart on crucial issues like autonomy for the Palestinians in occupied territory. When the Israelis talk about it, they mean no more than administrative control over purely local matters, while Sadat believes that autonomy should eventually lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

For once, even the U.S. reacted with only mild enthusiasm to a Sadat-Begin summit. A year earlier, the Carter Administration would undoubtedly have cheered the projected return to the Camp David peace process. The Reagan Administration last week described the resumption of the autonomy talks as a "welcome development," but did not commit itself to taking an active part in the negotiations.

The reticence stems from a U.S. decision, made months ago, to move slowly on the Middle East until after the Israeli elections last June. There were also the Israeli raids on Baghdad and Beirut; with them came further delays. Now the Administration is getting ready to talk quietly and explore possibilities with three more visitors from the region: Begin, who is due in early September; Jordan's King Hussein, who arrives in October; and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Fahd, who follows in November. Soon after that, the Administration expects to be ready at last with a new policy, whether it be a reaffirmation of Camp David or an alternative plan.

--By William E. Smith. Reported by David Aikman and Nat Harrison/Alexandria

With reporting by DAVID AIKMAN, Nat Harrison/Alexandria

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