Frank but Cordial Differences

By Marguerite Johnson

In Israel, Mitterrand pleads for Palestinian rights

"ln our eyes, you are a true friend, I faithful to his principles, whose word is honor." That effusive welcome, delivered by Israeli President Yitzhak Navon last week, was reserved for a very special guest: French President Franc,ois Mitterrand, the first West European leader to visit the Jewish state since former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's historic pilgrimage in 1973. Despite a few rocky moments, the trip demonstrated France's shift away from the pro-Arab policy set by President Charles de Gaulle in 1967. It was a significant example of Mitterrand's stated intention to "speak the same language" to both Arabs and Israelis. Declared Mitterrand at the airport ceremonies: "Rest assured that a true friend has come to you today, and I say this in the name of everyone in France."

To Jerusalem, Mitterrand's visit came as a gesture of profound good will that was all the more meaningful in view of Israel's troublesome and deepening isolation in the world. From the moment Mitterrand's official DC-8 jet flew into Israeli airspace, where it was met and escorted to Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv by four Israeli-made Kfir-C2 jet fighters, the occasion was electric with excitement and symbolism.

Mitterrand and his wife Danielle were driven through the Judean hills to the entrance to Jerusalem for a customary Hebrew ceremony in which they were served bread ("symbol of equality and community," the French President said), salt ("symbol of the spirit that will always prevail") and wine ("symbol of the rites that bring together the faithful"). There was an awkward but quickly forgotten moment when Mayor Teddy Kollek chided Mitterrand for refusing to visit disputed East Jerusalem, the Arab sector that Israel now claims as part of its capital. Afterward, the French President met with Begin for a talk that was described as "part friendly banter and part no-holds-barred debate."

That evening, at a glittering dinner in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, Mitterrand warned his hosts that not all of his views would please them. "But you will understand," he said, standing beneath a Marc Chagall fresco depicting the Jews' return to Israel, "that a friend can only be your friend if he preserves his freedom of judgment and tells you what he thinks." The next day, in an address before the Knesset, Mitterrand spelled out publicly what he had told Begin privately: Israel must recognize the Palestinian demand for an independent state. "What I want to make clear here today is my affirmation of the right to live," he said. "That right is yours, but also that of your neighbors, and I mean specifically the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as the people of Lebanon."

Mitterrand's decision to speak on behalf of the Palestinians while in Israel was altogether in character. On a state visit to Saudi Arabia last year, he was not afraid to stress France's unwavering commitment to Israel's security. In Jerusalem, he told the Knesset that it was up to the Palestinians to decide who would speak for them, but that the Palestine Liberation Organization could not hope "to sit at the negotiating table as long as it denies Israel's right to exist."

Responding from the wheelchair that he has been using since breaking his hip last November, Begin countered that a Palestinian state on the West Bank would imperil Israel's existence. "This is our country, this is our land," he later added. "Here our civilization was born." But he challenged Mitterrand to launch a peace initiative of his own and to work for a nonaggression pact that would include all the countries of the Mediterranean basin.

At a joint press conference, Mitterrand shrugged off the spirited public disagreements between himself and Begin, saying that they only demonstrated "the democracy of our relationship." Israel did not object when French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson conferred with four prominent Arab leaders from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There was a brief flurry of concern when Begin, 68 and suffering from a heart condition, took ill at a final dinner given by the French. His doctors said that it was merely exhaustion, and the next morning Begin attended a scheduled meeting with Cheysson.

For many Israelis, the French visit was a welcome, if too brief, diversion from the continuing tensions in the region. Earlier in the week, Israel had abruptly dashed hopes for an expected visit to Israel this month by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The reason: not wanting to grant implicit recognition to Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, Mubarak had refused when the Israelis insisted that he visit the ancient city. In that case, the Israelis declared, Mubarak need not come at all.

The rift in what had been a relatively smooth relationship between Israel and Egypt since Sadat's death hardly helped to quell anxieties as Israel prepared to relinquish the last part of the Sinai on April 25. Hints by Israel that it might attack P.L.O. strongholds in southern Lebanon were also deeply worrying. To urge restraint on all parties, Washington dispatched Special Envoy Philip Habib to the region once again.

Meanwhile, Israel began the painful process of evicting settlers who are intent on stopping the final withdrawal from the Sinai. Access to the area was cut off last week to forestall protest demonstrations. Israeli troops moved on five settlements, forcibly evicting 123 squatters. As an Israeli general put it, "The battle for the Sinai desert, which started 15 years ago, is finally coming to an end."

qed qed qed

From the moment the attack was launched on a Cairo reviewing stand last Oct. 6, killing Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, at least some of the 24 defendants who later went on trial for the assassination knew how their mission would end. Last Saturday a three-judge army tribunal announced its verdict: death for the leader of the plot, First Lieut. Khaled Ahmed Shawki Islambuli, his three hit-team accomplices and another of the ringleaders; prison sentences ranging from five years to life for 17 others involved in the conspiracy. Two were acquitted.

Throughout the trial, the 35 defense lawyers argued that there were grounds in Islamic law to end a tyrannical regime, and thus Sadat's murder was justified. The defendants have the right to appeal to President Mubarak to review their sentences.

--By Marguerite Johnson. Reported by David Aikman/Jerusalem and Jordan Bonfante with Mitterrand

With reporting by David Aikman/Jerusalem, Jordan Bonfante, Mitterrand

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