Why Israelis Doubt Carter

...Even Holland, not long ago one of Europe's two most pro-Israel countries, quickly associated itself with French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing's arms-sales pitch and calls for Palestinian self-determination, including PLO representation without requiring the terrorist organization to renounce its declared aim of destroying Israel...

...The President was reported to be boiling mad about the Begin governEuahu Salpeter, a regular NL contributor, is a correspondent for Ha'aretz, one of Israel's leading newspapers...

...One reason is the widespread conviction that Washington's instructing Ambassador Donald McHenry to vote last month for the Security Council's strong anti-Israel resolution marked a sharp turn for the worse in U.S.-Israeli relations-too damaging to be quickly reversed...

...Nor were Israelis reassured, not to mention convinced, by the partial White House retractions issued once the full meaning of the resolution (and the angry reaction in Israel and among its American friends) became evident...

...In fact, they support the general impression that Washington, in its eagerness to mobilize the Arabs into an anti-Soviet block, has bought lock, stock and barrel the Arab propaganda line that security in the region depends on "solving the Palestine question...

...While a slim majority in the Cabinet favors permitting the return of Jews to Hebron, it is almost certain that in a secret ballot a majority of the Knesset would vote against this move...

...Yet those pro-Arab votes always were related to the condemnation of one-time events (the retaliatory raid in Kybia, the attack on Beirut airport), or were of the cease-and-desist type (demanding a halt to the incursions in Southern Lebanon...

...But the UN vote was viewed as a revealing quantum jump involving qualitative change...

...If something like the recent U.S...

...policy," and by American Jewish organizations????the State Department (if it is a medium-size furor) or the White House (if it is a major blow-up) takes the one step backward, declaring that the moves have been "misinterpreted" or resulted from a "misunderstanding...

...Washington has never left any doubt that it does not recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 War, or that it disapproves of the settlements in the occupied West Bank territories...

...America has raised its hand in favor of critical UN resolutions before, of course...

...are potentially more dangerous than errors committed by a country with enough power and local leverage to correct them later, or to prevent their possibly tragic consequences...

...Indeed, what most distresses Israelis is their clear impression that the Administration has decided to go far beyond the positions it has taken even in private conversations...

...Instead, the Opposition as well as the press have stressed the government's share of responsibility for aggravating relations with Israel's friends by pressing forward with its controversial settlement policy in the West Bank...

...Moreover, it soon became apparent that unlike the past, the resolution does not apply only to East Jerusalem...

...When Israel nevertheless hinted that the autonomy talks with Egypt might be jeopardized because the UN resolution had prejudged matters that are supposed to be negotiated, President Carter himself took the blame for the "failure in communications...

...is not what it used to be, and this worries him more than the growing stream of modern Soviet armaments to Syria and Iraq or the tide of Moslem fanaticism rising from Aya-tollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Iran...

...Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance-who later undercut himself while testifying before a House committee-first said he was responsible for the "failure to communicate clearly" to Ambassador McHenry what the Administration had in mind...

...The unprecedentedly grave Security Council resolution is still on the books...

...For in Israel's consciousness Western-And especially American-support is the ultimate guarantor of its existence...

...For mistakes by a weak, indecisive U.S...

...Beyond an obvious concern about the impact this may have on the effective advocacy of Jerusalem's positions in Washington, Israelis worry that the differences at the top may lead to an estrangement between large segments of the Jewish community and the State of Israel...

...Further aggravating Israeli apprehensions are the growing signs of a split between the Begin government and American Jewish leadership...

...it calls for the abandonment of new Jerusalem as well...

...support for the dismantling of all settlements, including those in the Jerusalem suburbs, may have bolstered Begin and the hawks: They can now argue that moderation makes no sense because Washington has demonstrated it is not merely against the demands of the ultranationalists...

...One would have expected critics of the government to recall with ironic glee Defense Minister Ezer Weiz-man's controversial endorsement of President Carter only a few weeks ago...

...As might be expected, this has rung the alarm bells for all Israelis...

...As one commentator here put it, recasting an old metaphor, the Carter Administration tends to treat Israel like an inexperienced partner in an English waltz: It takes two unexpected political steps forward that come as a complete surprise, then-After loud protests by Jerusalem denouncing "the departures from proclaimed U.S...

...This is why U.S...

...The average Israeli is not well informed about the details of American demographic shifts, election-law amendments or socio-political changes...

...The concept has always been that of Israelis themselves facing the Arab numerical superiority, with the West providing the necessary arms and deterring direct Soviet intervention...

...And more, that giving in to Carter's pressure would endanger the unification of Jerusalem and possibly undermine Israel's rights in the western, pre-1967 part of the Holy City...

...More analytical Israelis, meanwhile, worry as much about America's ability to prevent Soviet intervention in the Middle East as they do about Washington's ardor in courting Arab regimes doing their best to destroy the peace with Egypt and the Camp David Agreements...

...And the feeling was that in seeking to signal his utmost displeasure by joining the Security Council condemnation, he hadwhether intentionally or not-tipped his hand...

...But he is quite aware that Israel's standing in the U.S...

...merit's decision to allow Jews to settle in the former Jewish quarter of the West Bank Arab city of Hebron...

...has lent support to wording almost identical with the larger Arab objectives...

...The skepticism that greeted this unusual step, Israeli correspondents reported from Washington, dismayed the White House...

...But the latest UN vote was the first time it backed the dismantling of existing settlements, instead of carefully confining itself to opposing new ones...

...In addition, Vance's statement reconfirmed a long-standing belief that the State Department has a pro-Arab bias, and it now seems less counter-balanced by the White House and Congress...

...vote in the UN could occur during an election year, Israelis asked themselves, what could be expected once Jimmy Carter is re-elected and no longer has to worry about winning another term...

...Yet nothing of substance had changed...

...Each of the other Common Market countries appears to be competing to outdo France's pro-Arab statements and policies...

...Small wonder that Paris' insinuations of merely doing the work of Washington, whose hands are tied by the forthcoming elections, have the ring of credibility here...

...Now, however, the U.S...

...ANALYSIS OF A TURNING POINT Why Israelis Doubt Carter by Eliahu Salpeter DONALD McHENRY Tel AvTv Despite President Carter's meeting in Washington with Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin to bolster the sagging spirit of Camp David, the mood here remains pessimistic...

...Divided as they may be over such issues as the scope of autonomy for the Palestinians or the West Bank developments, they are firmly united in rejecting any question of Israel's presence in Jerusalem...

...It is also probable that a plebiscite would show most Israelis opposing additional West Bank settlements...

...It is perhaps a measure of the Israeli public's political maturity, though, that it has not placed all the blame for the country's weakened international position on Washington or Western Europe...

...But in recent months the deterioration of support for Israel in Western Europe has been snowballing...