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Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin likened the Camp David settle
ment to the Congress of Vienna which redrew the map of Europe in
1815 after the Napoleanic Wars and lasted until the eve of World
War I. Both Mr. Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt
praised Mr. Carter for his tireless mediary role in the talks -- an
effort which, as had been hoped, should serve to boost his sagging
popularity among the American populace.
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Observers caution, however, that the fate of the Middle East will
not be decided solely on the strength of the optimistic declarations
and euphoria of Camp David. As Carter himself admitted: "The
questions that have brought warfare and bitterness to the Mideast for
the last 30 years will not be settled overnight."
The question of Israeli settlements in the Sinai, for example, was
not fully resolved at Camp David. Egypt asserts they must be dis
mantled and removed as a prerequisite to the bilateral peace treaty;
Israel states that the issue should be resolved during the peace
negotiations. Begin faces a tough time selling the dismantling of
the Sinai settlements to the Israeli Knesset.
Even more difficult to resolve, however, will be the issue of the
ultimate fate of the West Bank. The two key issues here involve the
political future of the Palestinians and what is to become of over
sixty Israeli settlements located there after the 5-year transition
period.
Observers are hopeful that Sadat will be able to enlist the support
(at least tacitly) of the moderate states of Jordan and Saudi Arabia
in the Camp David deals -- though even their backing is by no means
certain. A major effort will be made by both sides to bring the
government of Jordan into full negotiations over the future of the
West Bank. Jordan's participation is deemed so critical to the
entire West Bank transition period that the first treaty specifically
states, as one of its objectives: "To conclude a peace treaty between
Israel and Jordan by the end of the transitional period."
An even bigger problem will be convincing more radical states such
as Syria and Iraq to participate in the plan. They view any separate
Israeli-Egyptian peace pact as a "betrayal", of the Arab cause by
Sadat, and the transitional West Bank agreement as totally unacceptable.
It goes without saying that the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) was insensed by the Camp David deals. Months ago, following
Sadat's Jerusalem visit, Palestinian radicals declared that the
signing of any such deals by Sadat would, in effect, be the signing
of his own death warrant. Security around the Egyptian president
is certain to be tighter than ever in the wake of Camp David.
The Camp David documents, which are only now being released in detail,
will be studied and analyzed for weeks to come. What is obvious at
first glance is the determined effort on the part of Israel and
Egypt to continue, despite their differences, the historic initiative
launched 10 months ago with President Sadat's visit to Israel.
The agreements are also careful to avoid raising obstacles on other
matters which obviously could not have even been approached at this