Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume IX, Arab-Israeli Dispute, August 1978–December 1980, Second, Revised Edition

222. Memorandum From Reginald Bartholomew of the National Security Council Staff to President Carter¹

Washington, March 19, 1979

SUBJECT

• Egyptian-Israeli Dispute over Subphasing of Withdrawal (U)

The Egyptian and the Israeli negotiating teams in Washington have apparently reached an impasse over the question of accelerated withdrawal from the Alma oil field. The Egyptians had expected a return to last fall’s formulation of withdrawal from the oil field within four–six months. The Israelis were prepared for early withdrawal from al-Arish, but Weizman is under strict instruction not to agree to withdrawal from the Alma field until the end of the nine-month period. (S)

The Israeli Cabinet voted today on the full package of proposals,² but included in that package is the Israeli proposal of not withdrawing from the oil field until the end of the nine-month period. As a result, Weizman has no more negotiating authority to deal with this issue, and Begin has specifically ruled out any possible compromise. (S)

The Egyptians have reacted badly to this development. In their view, the Israeli proposal does not constitute genuine subphasing of withdrawal and therefore Prime Minister Khalil has informed us that Egypt will not be bound to the exchange of ambassadors one month after the interim withdrawal has been completed, nor will Egypt agree to talks on the orderly transfer of oil fields and on company-to-company arrangements to insure continued supply of oil to Israel during the period of turnover. (S)

Secretary Vance will be available later this afternoon to discuss this issue with you. Minister Weizman, who is quite unhappy with his government’s position, will be leaving at 6 p.m. today. It might be worth having Secretary Vance call Weizman before his departure.³ (S)

The attached cable⁴ reviews the status of the talks on this issue as of last night. (U)

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Subject File, Box 16, Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty: 10/78–3/79. Secret. Sent for information. Carter initialed “C” at the top of the memorandum, indicating that he saw the document.
2. On March 19, the Israeli Cabinet confirmed the full treaty text and the attached annexes. The following day, Begin presented the document to the Knesset for debate and approval. The text of Begin’s opening statement to the Knesset is printed in Israel’s Foreign Relations, Selected Documents, 1977–1979, pp. 665–685.
3. According to the President’s Daily Diary, Carter himself spoke with Weizman on the telephone from 4:31 p.m. to 4:36 p.m., March 19. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials) No other record of this conversation has been found.
4. The cable was not found attached. The Department relayed the status of talks through March 18 in telegram Tosec 30002/67722 to Cairo and Tel Aviv, March 19; Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Cables File, State Department Out, Box 115, 3/17–21/79.