WASHINGTON REPORT: The Middle East:
Sisyphus
WASHINGTON REPORT THE MIDDLE EAST Secretary of State Kissinger has both tenaciously and ingeniously sired an assortment of agreements, the "Sinai Accords," that he states can generate a larger,...
...and Egypt fend an agreement between Egypt and Israel...
...Therefore, this climate subjects the Sinai agreements to a degree of stress even before they are evaluated in their own terms, including our promise, embodying an element of risk, to supply an ally, Israel, with the oil it needs for domestic use as well as considerable military equipment...
...Moreover, the Sinai agreements, whatever their merits, are victimized by the legacy of American foreign policy during the last 15 years or so-or, at least, American foreign policy in Southeast Asia, that is, every proposal these days in the area of foreign policy becomes tarred, suspect The more scholarly among us, such as Edwin O. Reischauer, former Ambassador to Japan, for example, suggest that a preferred stance of ours should be, in Reischauer's words, a "policy of commitment to the defense of others only in cases when the threatened hegemony of some power menaces vital U.S...
...After all, the Secretary asks, in effect, in a region most resistant to accord, what is a feasible alternative...
...First, the parcel of agreements encounters a climate of opinion that has nothing to do with either their, positive features or the Middle East itself...
...The agreements come into view at a time when newly formalized foreign-aid commitments are not looked upon with great favor by Americans, more concerned as to when the sun will again shine upon the domestic economy...
...interests...
...There are more portentous provisions among the agreements, but the one attracting the most interest is one that would assign no more than 200 American civilians to those Sinai passes from which Israeli troops are to be withdrawn...
...This may be right and proper, they point out, but Americans should understand this at the outset...
...Then there is the assumption that the complicated written arrangements of the agreements point toward future negotiations leading toward a larger settlement- the Golan Heights, involving Syria, the West Bank, involving Jordan and the diverse Palestinian-settlement movement itself, including the PLO...
...There is legitimate ground for this position...
...Her observation, inadvertently, may turn out to be the most optimistic comment that can be made...
...May this come to pass, despite uneasiness felt here in Washington...
...But this time, such members of Congress are asking themselves: how far does one go even for a worthwhile ally who has earned her nationhood...
...He, along with George Ball, President Johnson's Under Secretary of State, probably would add that the Mayaguez affair in the Gulf of Siam earlier this year was good domestic politics, but bad foreign policy...
...The prospects for this to happen are discouraging...
...Then, there is the language of Point 11: "The United States government and the government of Israel will, at the earliest possible time, and if possible, within two months after the signature (9/1/75) of this document, conclude the contingency plan for a military supply operation to Israel in an emergency situation...
...The Israelis themselves have reservations, although they're giving it a try-but only on the supposition that if the worst conies, the U.S...
...The Sinai agreements have merits and demerits...
...Golda Meir, referring to her apprehensions, said that the agreements should be looked at "not with mourning...
...Doubts and fears of members of Congress are being kept cloaked to date, for reasons of self-defense, but they are quite real and not limited to a few...
...The congressional committees should feel obliged to give them a thorough discussion and, furthermore, should insist that the Ford administration discuss with the committees each and every pledge, written and oral, it has made with any Middle East nation...
...All the while the Soviet Union is providing tea and sympathy to intransigent political elements in the Arab world...
...Egypt, on the other hand, has agreed to a prolonged cease-fire with Israel la order to retake those Sinai sections, including oil fields, on the assumption it won't lose its clout with its allies, Saudi Arabia, etc...
...Providing Israel...
...Congressional concern does not appear to run deep on this issue, but objections to other portions of the agreements may cause some members to express their reservations by voting against, or postponing, putting American "monitors" in the Sinai...
...It is a markedly somber period...
...The Ford administration seeks prompt approval by the Congress of this plan to emplace American technicians capable of reading sophisticated radar and computerised surveillance materials...
...with her domestic oil needs and up-to-date missiles and other armaments is causing twitches of apprehension among members of Congress customarily receptive to such proposals...
...Would they refuse, or somehow be "unable'' to be extricated if war erupts in the Sinai, as the agreement stipulates...
...At this writing, the Sinai agreements have been presented to the foreign affairs committees of both branches of the Congress (or segments of the agreements have- one can't be positive these days...
...Others, claiming less than Ball, point out correctly that as a minimum the implementation of the agreement makes us not a monitor or negotiator, but rather a full partner, a party to the whole affair, particularly on the side of Israel...
...And understand, further, that Point 10 of the American-Israeli Memorandum of Agreement ("leaked" not released to the press) contains language akin to that found in defense treaties...
...And so with the Sinai agreements...
...But, even accepting the Kissinger premise, the agreements should be understood in terms of their vulnerability, being, as they are, products of man...
...SISYPHUS...
...If one wishes to explore the potential of the placement Of American technicians, it should be understood that they would not be just any Americans looking for overseas jobs...
...Would they only be doing "monitoring...
...SISYPHUS be made...
...The array of agreements, as presented, includes bilateral agreements between the United States and Israel, the U.S...
...In support of this objective, the United States government will in the event of such threat consult promptly with the government of Israel with respect to what support, diplomatic or otherwise, or assistance it can lend to Israel in accordance with its constitutional practices...
...There, these Americans would monitor the agreement under which each is not to wage war against the other...
...Ball has suggested that the implications of the package of agreements-military aid to both sides that could total $12 billion in the next five or so years-carry with them consequences no less excruciating than those brought upon us by the Gulf of Tonkin resolution 10 years ago...
...will stand by her...
...Yet, it's difficult to discern the road to a larger settlement...
...They'd be highly skilled, experienced retired (or nominally retired) employees of the National Security Agency and the CIA...
...Point 10 in its entirety states: "In view of the long-standing U.S...
...In the Arab world, this could lead to a coup, or worse, in Egypt...
...These two points, combined with an addendum, intended to be kept secret, that promises arms aid of "advanced types of equipment such as the F-16 aircraft," mean that whatever the merits of these three provisions, the implications need to be openly and thoroughly discussed...
...Egyptian President Sadat is nervous the agreements may be interpreted by more bellicose Arab nations as meaning Egypt is "soft" on Israel...
...Under the terms of one of the agreements, Israel is relinquishing sections of the Sinai it captured during the 1973 war in hopes that ultimately a general peace settlement will be obtained with all its Arab neighbors...
...Other provisions in the agreements are quite sweeping...
...As for the parameters of the agreements themselves, Secretary Kissinger, acknowledging the expenditures and implied hazards are not minimal, says they are worth undertaking in order to avoid another war in the Middle East-an occurrence that might destroy the Ford administration's much-prized "detente" with the Soviet Union...
...commitment to the survival and security of Israel, the United States government will view with particular gravity threats to Israel's security or sovereignty by a world power...
...WASHINGTON REPORT THE MIDDLE EAST Secretary of State Kissinger has both tenaciously and ingeniously sired an assortment of agreements, the "Sinai Accords," that he states can generate a larger, non-bellicose living arrangement between Israel and Arab nations...
...not with fanfare...
...Extensive American military assistance to Israel and Egypt in the years ahead is intended...
...Both men would also probably prefer an effort at Geneva for an overall settlement rather than the step-by-step settlement that Mr...
...Kissinger has chosen to pursue...
Vol. 102 • October 1975 • No. 15
