129. Memorandum From Ambassador-at-Large Alfred L. Atherton, Jr. to Secretary of State Vance1
Boutros Ghali called tonight to report on his and Ghorbal’s three-hour meeting2 with Dayan, Weizman and Rubenstein. I record below in some detail what he reported because it is clearly relevant to your [Page 442] breakfast discussion3 with the President. In passing this on, Boutros said he emphasized that he was raising nothing new; all the points he made to the Israelis he has been making since the Washington talks began. What is new, he said, is President Sadat’s insistence that these are prerequisites for signing the peace treaty. He said the Israelis had seen a “new Boutros” tonight.
Exchange of Letters
There must be a timetable as follows:
—Negotiations begin one month after ratification.
—Elections five to six months after that.
—Military government withdrawn one month after elections.
—Redeployment of troops one month after the military government is withdrawn (this could be in an Israeli letter to the U.S.).
Boutros said Dayan agreed to everything except fixing the date for the election but without that date, the others which follow are meaningless. Sadat insists on a timetable which makes clear that all of the above will be completed by the end of the interim withdrawal period.
Boutros also asked for Gaza elections to be held first, which Dayan adamantly refused.
Boutros said he heard for the first time tonight that Israel’s interpretation of Camp David is that the Military Governor will be transferred but not abolished. This obviously came as a disquieting revelation to him.
Unilateral Israeli Moves
Boutros said Dayan agreed on moving military government headquarters, an amnesty for political prisoners, and an end to restrictions on political activity but rejected any unilateral steps to permit the return of displaced persons for family reunification purposes.
Boutros says he did not suggest it to Dayan, but would be prepared for these unilateral steps to be recorded in an Israeli letter to us.
Gaza
Boutros said Sadat is adamant on the need for an Egyptian presence; what he really wants is a military presence but Boutros knows this is not possible. He suggested a resident Egyptian Mission which the Israelis could describe as a consulate. Dayan said this might be pos [Page 443] sible after the interim withdrawal, with visiting, non-permanent missions prior to that time.
Settlements
Dayan raised this, saying that Israel planned new settlements after three months. Boutros says that he responded that if Israel does this, even though they conclude a peace treaty, it would quickly begin to crumble. There has to be a gentleman’s agreement at least that new settlements will stop.
Finally, Boutros said when he finished the Israelis argued that all of these details went beyond Camp David. He replied that all of the details on normalization in Annex III also went beyond Camp David, including in particular the exchange of Ambassadors after one month. If Egypt had agreed to such detail in its bilateral treaty, why should Israel not agree to comparable details which were important to Egypt on the West Bank/Gaza issues.
Boutros said the Egyptians would be drafting a letter or letters which would incorporate their foregoing requirements. He looks forward to hearing the results of my talk tomorrow with Dayan,4 which I have set for 10:00AM. Boutros says Dayan and Weizman told him they would be going to Canada to see Begin tomorrow to report all of this.
I suggest we not make any firm decisions on what we will do and when until we can assess the results of this interaction between the Egyptians and the Israelis.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Subject File, Box 15, Egypt-Israel Negotiations: 11/6–13/78. Secret; Nodis.↩
- In his memoir of the treaty negotiations, Boutros Ghali recalled that his November 9 meeting with the Israelis “was perhaps the most important work session on negotiations so far.” (Boutros Ghali, Egypt’s Road to Jerusalem, p. 173)↩
- According to the President’s Daily Diary, Vance participated in a breakfast meeting with Carter, Brzezinski, and Jordan from 7:31 a.m. to 9:02 a.m., November 10. No memorandum of conversation for this breakfast discussion with Carter has been found. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials)↩
- On the back of the memorandum are handwritten notes related to Atherton’s November 10 meeting. No other record of this meeting has been found.↩
- Atherton signed “Roy” above this typed signature.↩