285. Telegram From the Embassy in Egypt to the Department of State1
16863. For the President from Ambassador Strauss. Tel Aviv/Jerusalem for Ambassador Strauss. Subject: Strauss Meeting With Sadat.
1. (S-entire text).
2. I met for an hour and a quarter in Ismailia Saturday2 night with President Sadat, with only Vice President Mubarak and Atherton present. Sadat had clearly consulted with Mubarak and Khalil following my meetings with them earlier that day.3 I nevertheless reviewed briefly the background for my trip and the strategy we are pursuing to deal with the Palestinian rights issue in the Security Council, to make certain that Sadat understood our position and the reasons for it.
3. After a relaxed and somewhat rambling preliminary discussion, Sadat with increasing animation came directly and firmly to the point. He said he understood the need to do something to help Saudi Arabia “save face” but left no doubt he was deeply concerned that our decision to put forth a Palestinian rights resolution in the Security Council would “scare Israel” and upset the peace process.
4. As we talked, Sadat clearly stated that he fears our present approach for dealing with the situation in the Security Council will derail his strategy as he has described it to us on previous occasions. He reiterated very precisely that the way to bring Israel along is to move step by step, to show understanding of their security concerns, to give them time to work their way through their problems, and to proceed without hesitation to fulfill all commitments under the bilateral Egyptian/Israeli Treaty. He repeated several times that we must not “scare Israel” and at one point said, “let’s first complete this step with Israel.” He made clear that by “this step” he meant the present autonomy negotiations. Although at one point he reflected some anxiety about what would happen if no agreement were reached in those talks within the allotted 12-month period, Sadat basically exuded confidence that “we [Page 918] will succeed.” With an almost mystical confidence, he said that at Camp David “we jumped over obstacles to new horizons.” If the Palestinians were to join the autonomy talks at this stage, Sadat said, we would reach no agreement, just as we would have reached no agreement at Camp David if Hussein had been there. It is important first to complete the autonomy negotiations with Israel; then if the Palestinians refuse what we have achieved for them, this will be their responsibility. Their entry now would “doom the peace process,” he stated.
5. Recalling his report to us following his last talks with Begin in Alexandria, Sadat expressed confidence that by the end of this year there would be agreement on full autonomy and a solution to the Jerusalem problem. This agreement could then be carried out in Gaza and Jerusalem, leaving the West Bank aside for the time being because of its particular sensitivity to the Israelis and because this would provide an opportunity for Israel and Hussein to come to an understanding with respect to the West Bank. Sadat stated confidently that, when the present phase of negotiations with Israel is completed by the end of this year, Hussein would join the negotiating process and, by working with Israel, could arrange a plebescite whereby the Palestinians would agree to join Jordan rather than insist upon an independent state.
6. To make certain that I had understood precisely Sadat’s position, I put certain questions to him towards the end of our meeting:
—I first asked how concerned Sadat would be if we vetoed an Arab resolution in the Security Council, thereby undermining our credibility with the other Arabs and reinforcing the Baghdad front. Sadat repeated that this would not harm Egypt or the autonomy talks but would harm the United States with Saudi Arabia.
—I next asked what Sadat’s views were on a milder resolution which would not call for a Palestinian state, which would basically draw on language we have used in the past, and which would be supported by the U.S. I told Sadat that in my talks in Israel it was clear that even such a resolution would be opposed by the Israelis. Sadat repeated that when Israel is frightened, this will harm the peace process.
—I then asked his reaction to a U.S. resolution which would be opposed by the Arab world but would, on the basis of my talks with Israel, still be opposed by them. Sadat repeated that anything which frightened the Israelis would be bad for the peace process.
7. When I described the Israeli position (characterizing it as unreasonable and asking for his advice) that any new resolution was unnecessary since the peace process is being implemented and progressing well on the basis of Resolution 242 and 338 plus the Camp David Framework, and that any new resolution would unbalance the Camp [Page 919] David Framework, Sadat strongly differing with me said, “they are right.”
8. At various points during the conversation, Sadat reflected preoccupation with the Saudi position, saying he did not fully understand it and reiterating his sense of grievance with the Saudis generally and Prince Fahd in particular. He would, however, rise above this and was prepared to fulfill his commitments, in cooperation with the United States, for security in the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf. In this connection he repeated his earlier offer of “full facilities” for the United States to cooperate with Egypt in maintaining stability and security in the Gulf and in the Sudan. If the United States has a problem with Saudi Arabia in connection with the forthcoming Security Council debate, Sadat said, we should try to handle this in our bilateral relationship with the Saudis. He stressed that he fully supports strong U.S.-Saudi relations and that we should do what we need to in order to reassure the Saudis in our bilateral relations. Above all, however, we must be cautious about any move in the Security Council which could frighten the Israelis.
9. Noting Sadat’s repeated references to the Saudis, I took this opening to make the point to him that it would be helpful to us if he could avoid criticisms of Saudi Arabia. Sadat said he would refrain from such criticisms and, what is more, would repair his relations with them when that became possible, despite all that they had done to him.
10. Following our meeting and after our brief remarks to the press, I took Sadat aside to make certain he fully understood that our present position was to move ahead immediately with a U.S. resolution in the Security Council, if possible with the Israelis but if necessary without them, to pre-empt a harder line Arab resolution which we would have to veto and which would risk strong reactions from the other Arabs.
11. In reflecting on Saturday night’s meeting, I must admit to having been unprepared for Sadat’s almost total preoccupation with not “scaring” the Israelis, his confidence that there can be a breakthrough by the end of the year as a result of our support and his personal efforts with Begin, and his assumption that we can contain the Saudi reaction to a U.S. veto in the Security Council. He bases the latter on his conviction that the Saudis know they depend “100 percent” on us for their security, and on a basic assumption that we have already made a deal with the Saudis, although I did my best to disabuse him of this. Atherton and I were both convinced that he believes firmly that our basic reason for going forward with a resolution is to fulfill a deal we made with Fahd. I do not believe we ever convinced him to the contrary.
12. It is relevant to the foregoing to report that in a call on a senior Foreign Ministry official earlier Saturday afternoon, Leonard was told [Page 920] very plainly that Sadat and Khalil were both very concerned over impact on peace process of anything in New York that would upset Israelis. This official (Ahmed Maher), who had just been briefed by Khalil, noted that some in the Ministry disagreed with their leaders but the leaders feel strongly on this.
13. Sadat’s final statement to me was to return and prevent Jimmy Carter from weakening or destroying his great accomplishment at Camp David.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840163–2067. Secret; Cherokee, Niact Immediate; Nodis. Sent for information Niact Immediate to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.↩
- August 18.↩
- A summary of Strauss’s meetings with Mubarak and Khalil is in telegram 16856 from Cairo, August 18. A typewritten White House Situation Room note on the text of the telegram reads: “Per ZB’s instructions the summary portion of this cable was sent to The President.” The telegram was also initialed by Hunter. (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Trips/Visits File, Box 115, 8/16–22/79 Strauss Trip to Israel and Egypt: 8/79)↩