Office of the Historian

288. Memorandum of Conversation1

Alexandria, August 8, 1978, 11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Summary of Meeting between Secretary Vance and Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamil

PARTICIPANTS

  • Hon. Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State
  • Hon. Alfred Atherton, Ambassador-at-Large
  • Hon. Hermann Eilts, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt
  • Hon. Harold Saunders, Assistant Secretary of State
  • Mr. William Quandt, NSC Staff Member
  • H.E. Muhammad Ibrahim Kamil, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • H.E. Ashraf Ghorbal, Ambassador to U.S.
  • Mr. Ahmed Maher, Chef de Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

[Omitted here is discussion of the situation in Lebanon.]

Secretary Vance then turned to the question of the announcement of the Camp David meetings. The President will make the announcement at 11:30 a.m., Washington time, which will be 5:30 p.m. in Egypt. The statement will be forwarded ahead of time for the Egyptians to see. The President will also be meeting with Congressional leaders today and with some press representatives. Egypt can say that they have accepted the President’s invitation and that they are going to Camp David to establish a framework to bring peace to the Middle East. Min [Page 1302] ister Kamil asked if he could say that there would be a U.S. proposal if nothing comes out of the meeting. Secretary Vance said that we will be prepared to make our suggestions, and we will do this at Camp David. The Minister said that he would be asked why Egypt has agreed to go. How can this be explained? Secretary Vance said that Ambassador Atherton will tell the Saudis privately that the United States would be making its suggestions. The President is clearly putting his prestige on the line.

The Secretary said that he had already spoken with President Sadat on what some of the essential elements of an agreement should be and that he feels there is considerable similarity in our approaches. Minister Kamil said that we should be aware that President Sadat speaks in generalities. He asked the Secretary if he could be assured that there would be consultations with him before any American proposals were made. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry experts must see any proposals before President Sadat agrees to them. The Secretary said that he had promised President Sadat that the President himself would see any proposals we intended to make. The Minister said that it could be too late if we did not first review them with the Foreign Ministry staff. This is a unique chance to settle the problem, but we should be aware that President Sadat is very general in his approach. If there is no understanding before the meetings at Camp David, then there could be problems. President Sadat is willing to expose himself, and we have to protect him. The Minister asked to have a chance to advise President Sadat on the nature of any American proposals. Otherwise Prime Minister Begin will “nickel and dime him to death”. This meeting at Camp David will not help the situation unless President Sadat sees clearly what the issues are. Therefore, we must stay in touch before the meeting takes place.

Secretary Vance said that he does not want to surprise anyone at Camp David and that he has already discussed with President Sadat his views and these will be taken into consideration. Ambassador Eilts noted that the meetings at Camp David would be open-ended and that President Sadat would have his advisers with him there so that any proposals could be studied on the spot.

Mr. Maher asked if the Israelis were aware that the United States intended to put forward its own ideas. Secretary Vance said that they were and that he had never avoided this issue. Mr. Maher asked if the Egyptians could say that they expected American ideas at Camp David, and the Secretary said yes, if it is in the context of the Secretary’s frequent statements about putting forward ideas and suggestions of our own and not a blueprint or overall plan. Mr. Maher also asked if Egypt could describe the United States as a “full partner”, and the Secretary again responded positively, noting that he had used this phrase [Page 1303] yesterday.2 In closing, Secretary Vance noted that President Sadat had told him that he wanted Begin to have the people with him who would help to make decisions. Prime Minister Begin will probably have Yadin, Dayan, Weizman, and Barak with him. President Sadat wants to be able to reach decisions at the head of government level.

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 10, Egypt: 1–8/78. Secret; Nodis. The meeting took place in Secretary Vance’s suite at the Palestine Hotel.↩
  2. A reference to Vance’s August 8 press conference with Sadat in Alexandria. See footnote 10, Document 287.↩