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while its Islamic holy places re–
mained under Israelí occupation.
Nevertheless, the Saudis kept out of
the active dispute between Egypt
and the five hard-line Arab states,
possibly hoping.to act as a behind–
the-scenes mediator to repair the in–
ter-Arab rifts engendered by tl)e Sa–
dat visit. In the opinion of many
observers, the Saudis are in a posi–
tion to make or break the peace dia–
logue.
King Hussein of Jordan-the
Arab world's perennial "man in the
middle"- has likewise declined to
take sides in the dispute, praising
Sadat's "courage" but at the same
time upbraiding him for failing to
consult the other Arabs. It is gener–
ally felt that Hussein is eager for a
peace settlement and would like to
join the Egypt-Israel rapproche–
ment, but is reluctant to break with
the other Arab states. It is possible,
however, that he might be per–
suaded to join the negotiations at a
later time. Unconfirmed reports
even allege that Hussein has himself
visited Israel- incognito-in the
past.
Follow-up Talks
To maintain the momentum
launched by his Jerusalem visit, Sa–
dat called for follow-up talks in
Cairo, which began in mid-Decem–
ber between middle-ranking envoys
of both Israel and Egypt.
Shortly thereafter, a second face–
to-face meeting between Sadat and
Begin took place in Ismailia, Egypt,
a semiresort area on the Suez Canal.
That meeting resulted in the up–
grading of the Cairo peace talks to
the foreign ministers' level and the
creation of two new bilateral com–
mittees: a political committee meet–
ing in Jerusalem and a military
committee meeting in Cairo.
Headed, respectively, by the foreign
and defense ministers of both na–
tions, these committees began nego–
tiating in mid-January. Their work,
however, was suspended after one
week, each side blaming the other's
"intransigence." At this writing,
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1978
most observers expect the diffi–
culties to be resolved momentarily,
permitting the talks to resume.
When- and if-any decisions are
reached, the committees will report
to the full Cairo conference. At that
time, Sadat has indicated he will
again invite the other Arab states
and the PLO to join the talks.
The Ismailia summit faiJed to
produce the major peace break–
through many had hoped for.
lt
had
been suggested that the summit
might produce a joint declaration
that would lay the groundwork for a
full-dress Geneva conference where
the peace negotiations would hope–
fully be brought to their conclusion.
Instead, the fast-paced peace mo–
mentum slowed to a crawl, with the
two sides reportedly miles apart on
key issues. The outcome was limited
to an agreement to continue talking.
The reason?
The Arab world, ;Egypt included,
continues to call for the complete
withdrawal of Israel from all Arab
territories occupied by Israelí troops
in the June 1967 Six-Day War. These
territories are theSinai Península and
Gaza Strip (formerly Egyptian), the
GolanHeights (formerly Syrian), and
the butterfty-shaped West Bank of
the Jordan River (formerly Jordan–
ian). The teturn of East Jerusalem
(the walled Old City) to Arab control
is also demanded- "one of the main
objectives of the entire Arab world,"
in the words ofSaudi Arabia's Prince
Fahd.
In bis hour-long speech before
Israel's Knesset (parlíament), and
during bis prívate talks with Begin
both in Jerusalem and Ismailia, Sa–
dat firmly reasserted these demands,
adding that once all these territories
were returned, Israel would then be
fully acceptable to the Arabs and
secure within her borders. Sadat
had clearly not gone to Jerusalem to
make peace on Israel's terms.
Israelí proposals, however, have
fallen short of these demands. Begin
has indicated a wíllingness to with–
draw in stages, over three to five
years, from virtually all of the Sinai
as a part of an overall settlement.
For reasons of national security,
however, Israel is reportedly willing
to retum to Syria only a portion of
the Golan Heights which domínate
targets in northem Israel.
Israelí control of the Old City of
Jerusalem, which Israel views as
"líberated" rather than "occupied,"
is not negotiable, say the Israelis. At
most, they would permit the estab–
lishment of a special interfaith au–
thority as "Guardian of the Holy
Shrines." Likewise , Israe l has
refused to accept complete Arab
control of the West Bank of the Jor–
dan River (called Judea and Sa–
maria by Israelis), which serves as a
mílitary buffer zone. Though largely
Arab in population, there are sorne
10,000 Israelis living in over 40 set–
tlements on the West Bank.
Deadlock Polnt
Closely related to the West Bank
question is the future of the Pales–
tinian Arabs.
In addition to Israel's return to its
pre-1967 borders, a second long–
standing Arab demand is that Israel
allow the creation of a fully autono–
mous and independent homeland
for the Palestinian Arabs in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip-areas
heavily and almost exclusively pop–
ulated by Arabs. "The position of
Egypt is that on the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip a Palestinian state
should be establíshed," Sadat told a
press conference in Ismailia after his
meetings there with Begin.
Arabs assert that if the Israelis
would only withdraw and give the
Palestinians their own state, there
will at last be real peace in the re–
gion. Otherwise, the Palestinians
will continue their guerrilla war
against Israel.
The sensitive and thomy issue of
Palestinian political and territorial
rights is at the heart and core of the
Arab-Israelí conftict, and solution to
it is widely viewed as the key to a
stable , long-term Middle Eas t
peace.
The PalestinianAra:bs-large num–
bers of whom were displaced from
their traditional bornes by the Arab–
Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967- are
native to the West Bank and to much
ofthe territory which is now the State
oflsrael. There are sorne three million
Palestinians throughout the Middle
East, roughly half of them in Israel
39