291. Message From the Special Representative of the President for Middle East Peace Negotiations (Strauss) to the Department of State and the White House1
Subject: Strauss’ Visit to Israel. For President Carter from Ambassador Strauss.
1. Secret-entire text.
2. Summary. Day visit to Israel has resulted in more progress on two fronts than I would have expected. Our bilateral relationship is much calmer than it was in August, and I have the sense that last month’s storm has passed, although substantial suspicion of the U.S. will undoubtedly boil up periodically as long as negotiations on Palestinian-related issues continue. In the autonomy talks, I believe we have established that the negotiations will move into “second gear” by [Page 939] the end of the month with the existing working groups. Only on Lebanon have we not made much progress, but even there I sensed greater Israeli concern about the course they are on than their formal position reveals. Coupled with my talks in Egypt, this visit brings us into transition to a new and more active phase in the negotiations and on the broader Middle East stage. End summary.
3. My meetings2 with Begin were, of course, the centerpiece of the talks here, and Sam Lewis is sending a more detailed report on those two meetings. I deliberately spent a good deal of time conveying to Begin Sadat’s strong, positive feelings about his meetings with Begin in Haifa3 and Khalil’s apparent newly heightened commitment to the success of the autonomy talks. Naturally, Begin and his colleagues are very pleased by Sadat’s understanding of the Israeli Government’s political problems. They were also relieved in my several meetings here to be assured that we are not going to press them to face the more difficult issues in the negotiations in the next couple of month. They agree to use the next three months for broadening and intensifying preparatory work on the most complicated issues in order to “tee them up” for the Ministerial group to address toward the turn of the year. I also assured Begin of your continuing deep personal commitment to the Camp David process and Agreements, and to Resolutions 242 and 338. Begin acknowledged the existence of an enhanced personal relationship with Sadat and expressed his pleasure that everyone strongly adheres to the target date of next May for the autonomy negotiations, and he was obviously pleased that press accounts of an American effort to force the pace on negotiations seemed unfounded.
4. On the other hand, my strong presentation4 on the importance of Israel’s taking the initiative to help achieve a lasting truce in South Lebanon met with no positive response. Later, however, with Dayan and with Justice Minister Tamir during my ride with him to the airport, I found more concern about Israel’s course than came out in my talk with Begin. Their problem is that they feel trapped and do not know how to change course.
5. I hit hard on the negative impact Israeli actions in Lebanon are having on U.S. public attitudes. He listened, but then insisted that he cannot change course unless all terrorist attacks cease, including [Page 940] bombings inside Israel. The bomb which exploded Wednesday in the Jerusalem market only helped underscore his point. But once again he was not prepared to move first. He argued strongly that the PLO would use any period of quiet to rest, regroup, and re-equip.
6. My two meetings with Burg5 and a meeting with the Israeli team for the autonomy negotiations6 produced two positive developments: first, Burg himself said he would propose that the plenary session in Alexandria September 26/27 approve his scheme to establish a number of sub-groups under the two existing working groups to deal with specific issues in the negotiations on the modalities of elections and on powers and responsibilities of the self-governing authority. I elaborated on his idea by suggesting that using more experts on various subjects could deepen the discussion of particular issues, and he responded positively. Both of us said publicly after the meeting with the Ministerial team that we hope that this could be done and that it would enable us to move the negotiations into “second gear”. Second, Burg said that he would go to the Alexandria plenary with a timetable for the plenary sessions for the rest of the year. This will impose certain interim deadlines on the working groups.
7. One intervention by Arik Sharon during this meeting with the Ministerial team provided interesting insight into his thinking. If we did not, he said, Israel would face a situation at the end of the negotiations in which it would be pressed to make concessions because by that time only one or two issues might stand between the negotiations and an agreement. Recognizing that Sharon’s intent was patently unconstructive, Burg turned him aside.
8. The combination of technical discussions to shape the issues for political-level consideration by the end of the year and work schedule for that same period is consistent with Khalil’s timetable of moving toward the difficult issues only at the beginning of next year. So out of these discussions here and in Cairo we have managed to shape the talks as we predicted in June, putting ourselves in position by the end of the year to show that the issues crucial to the Palestinians will be dealt with seriously in the negotiations. It also enables us to define and discuss these contentious and emotional issues in a non-political setting where progress can be made.
[Page 941]9. My talk with Dayan7 went over much the same ground on Lebanon, Begin had briefed him on our earlier meeting. Although Dayan seems much more worried about the political price Israel is paying abroad, he too insists that terrorist attacks must cease both from Lebanon and within Israel if a real truce is to be achieved. Dayan urged us to develop a longer range strategy for the whole Lebanon problem, including the ultimate settlement of the 350,000 Palestinians presently there. He says Weizman is the key to the near-term problem and urged us to hit Weizman hard while he is in Washington.8 I strongly recommend that we do so. He advised me that Weizman has been instructed to discuss Lebanon with us without waiting for Dayan visit.
10. I saw the Mayor of Bethlehem at our Consulate General,9 after carefully making clear to Begin that I would be meeting various West Bankers or Gazans from time to time. He raised no objection.
11. All in all the trip to Jerusalem was very worthwhile, if unspectacular. Begin seemed somewhat passive, frail and easily tired. But he is as unyielding as ever on anything which is not literally specified in the Camp David Agreement. And on Lebanon, he only hopes that things will remain quiet.10
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Trip File, Box 43, Robert Strauss, Middle East, 9/9–15/79. Secret; Sensitive; Immediate; Nodis. Sent for information Immediate to Cairo, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. The telegram is not numbered. Printed from a copy that indicates the original was received in the White House Situation Room.↩
- Strauss met with Begin for an hour and three quarters on September 11 and for a brief follow-up meeting on September 12. Lewis sent a full report of these meetings in telegram 19734 from Tel Aviv, September 13; ibid.↩
- See Document 288 and footnote 2 thereto.↩
- Lewis sent a full report of Strauss’s conversations on Lebanon with Begin on September 11 and with Dayan on September 12 in telegram 19737 from Tel Aviv, September 13; Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Trip File, Box 43, Robert Strauss, Middle East, 9/9–15/79.↩
- No other records of Strauss’s meetings with Burg have been found.↩
- No other record of Strauss’s September 12 meeting with the Israeli Ministerial team for the autonomy talks has been found. Remarks made by Strauss and Burg to the press following this meeting were reported in telegram 2928 from Jerusalem, September 12. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790416–0644)↩
- See footnote 2 above. Strauss met with Dayan on September 12.↩
- See Document 292.↩
- No other record of this meeting has been found.↩
- On September 15, Strauss instructed Atherton to provide Khalil with a report on the substance of his conversations in Israel. (Telegram 242503 to Cairo, September 15; Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Subject File, Box 4, Autonomy Talks: 9–11/79) Atherton met with Khalil the same day to convey Strauss’s report. (Telegram 18881 from Cairo, September 15; Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Trip File, Box 43, Robert Strauss, Middle East, 9/9–15/79)↩