A Strategic Alliance

By Ed Magnuson

As Mr. Reagan meets Mr. Begin, warm words--mostly

Under a sparkling sky in Washington, trumpets blared, drummers in red tunics beat a tattoo, and honor guards from the U.S. armed forces paraded smartly in salute to yet another visiting head of government. Amid the now familiar splendor of pageantry on the White House South Lawn, both the guest and his host, President Ronald Reagan, rose to the spirit of the emotion-tugging scene.

"No people have fought longer, struggled harder, or sacrificed more than yours in order to survive, to grow, and to live in freedom," said Reagan, turning to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. "Let us remember that whether we be Christian or Jew or Muslim, we are all children of Abraham, all children of the same God." But now, Reagan warned, "forces of aggression, lawlessness and tyranny . . . seek to undo the work of generations of our people, to put out a light that we've been tending for the past 6,000 years." More personally, the President said to a visibly moved Begin, "From your earliest days, you were acquainted with hunger and sorrow, but as you've written, you rarely wept. On one occasion, you did--the night when your beloved country, the state of Israel, was proclaimed. You cried that night, you said, because, 'truly there are tears of salvation as well as tears of grief.' " In response, Begin thanked Reagan for his "heartwarming remarks" and "the touching words."

Traditional diplomatic effusiveness? Not entirely. During two days of candid private talks the two leaders, who were meeting for the first time, seemingly developed an easy friendship, which Reagan's advisers regarded as one of the prime goals of the visit. Begin told his aides that he found Reagan "a warm person, very kind, quite open" and "not a highbrow." Said one Israeli aide: "The Prime Minister really likes him." Reagan called the talks "very warm and productive." The relaxed mood was indicated by Reagan, when he said of Begin at a kosher state dinner: "I have a funny feeling that he may have dined here more often than I have." That was hyperbole, of course, although it was Begin's twelfth meeting with a U.S. President since 1977.

Still, as one White House adviser emphasized, "This was more than just a getting-to-know-you state visit." U.S. officials, notably Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, had criticized Begin's decisions to destroy Iraq's nuclear reactor and to bomb strongholds of the Palestine Liberation Organization in civilian sections of Beirut. Begin in turn had sharply rejected the criticism as unwarranted and unfair. But last week, as Reagan escorted Begin toward his seat for the first White House meeting, Begin dramatically broke away. "Mr. Prime Minister," Reagan called out, "your seat is over here." Begin strode up to a startled Weinberger, thrust out his hand and shook Weinberger's warmly in an implicit apology. Throughout the talks, the Israeli air strikes were never mentioned. Explained Secretary of State Alexander Haig: "We viewed these as circumstances that are behind us."

One circumstance that lies ahead is the Reagan Administration's decision to sell five AW ACS radar intelligence-gathering aircraft and other advanced air weaponry to Saudi Arabia. Begin stated his objections to the sale in detail to Reagan, arguing that the sale posed a clear "danger" to Israel. "We are not frightened by AWACS," Begin told Reagan, "but we are worried about them." Still, he followed the advice of aides not to raise a public ruckus in the U.S. about the sale, since an all-out fight would look bad if Congress does not act to block the deal.

Still, if the sale goes through, Israel will not take it lightly. TIME has learned that the Israeli air force recently made at least two reconnaissance flights over Saudi Arabia to gather photographic intelligence that would be helpful if it ever feels the need to shoot down the AWACS. Warned one Israeli official: "I feel sorry for Saudi Arabia. They are making themselves a dangerous target. Israel cannot take chances with the AW ACS."

The most tangible result of the talks was a decision to formalize and strengthen the strategic alliance of the U.S. and Israel against any Soviet military moves in the Middle East. Top advisers to both Reagan and Begin, including hawkish Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, began to work out the details of the new cooperation after the summit meeting ended. Any agreement will probably include the pre-positioning of medical supplies in Israel for U.S. forces, making any emergency move easier; joint U.S.-Israeli naval exercises; and increased access by Israel to U.S. military intelligence. Also under consideration was the possible use of Haifa as a base for U.S. naval forces. Well aware that moderate Arab states will be less than pleased by closer U.S.-Israeli military ties, Secretary Haig stressed that this relationship was "parallel to the kind of things potentially available to them at some point."

At week's end a senior Defense Department official said that the new strategic relationship might be hindered if the AWACS sale was rejected by Congress--an apparent signal to the Israelis that their American supporters should not try to lobby too hard against the deal.

In their talks, Reagan and Haig apparently won no concessions from the Israelis, even though they pressed Begin to seek progress in reaching an agreement with Egypt on autonomy for the 1.3 million Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza. Haig suggested a deadline of next April 25 for completion of the autonomy talks, which are to resume later this month in Cairo. By April, if all goes well, Egypt will have got back all of the Sinai Peninsula, seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Some U.S. officials fear that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat may lose interest in further talks with Israel once he has achieved that goal.

Begin apparently did not ease U.S. worries about his inflexibility on autonomy issues. Before his arrival in Washington, a State Department official warned that "we will not send a high-level envoy [to the autonomy talks] unless Begin makes us feel it is worthwhile." After the summit talks ended, Haig announced that the U.S. will be represented only by its ambassadors to Israel and Egypt at the first new round of the negotiations. He said the U.S. might elevate its representation if there is progress on the unresolved procedural issues.

As Begin's trip neared its end, he continued a persistent, gentle pressure to get Reagan to visit Jerusalem. Said Begin in a pointed farewell: "I do not say goodbye, Mr. President. I say next time, au revoir in Jerusalem." Reagan did not commit himself. Like all but a handful of the nations that still recognize Israel, the U.S. maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. A presidential visit to Jerusalem might put Reagan in the position of appearing to accept Israeli sovereignty over the entire Holy City. And that would win the President few friends elsewhere in the ever troubled Middle East.-- By Ed Magnuson. Reported by David Aikman with Begin and Roberto Suro/Washington

With reporting by DAVID AIKMAN, Roberto Suro/Washington

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