334. Telegram From the Embassy in Egypt to the Department of State1
1978. For the President and the Secretary of State from Ambassador Linowitz. Subject: Meeting With King Hussein January 26.
1. Secret-entire text.
2. This is to report that I delivered your invitation to Hussein morning January 26 and that he was visibly delighted and gratified by it. In our subsequent conversation Hussein sought to show understanding for our Middle East peace efforts and to assure me that he did not want to do anything to make our task more difficult. The King was warm, friendly and positive throughout the talk, and I believe he regarded your invitation and this meeting as having established a bridge between himself and us closing a period of estrangement with which he was obviously uncomfortable.
3. Hussein and I met alone at the outset during which I extended the invitation, (after consulting with Ambassador Veliotes and giving further thought to the matter I decided it would be best to lead off with the invitation.) I said you had asked me to tell him that you would be very pleased if when he is next in the United States he would come to Washington for an informal chat. Hussein brightened immediately and asked me to convey to you his thanks and warmest regards. He said he plans to be in the U.S. in May. I said if Hussein should plan to come earlier he would be welcome even before May and he replied that perhaps there might be an earlier opportunity.
4. Following this warm and very friendly exchange, which set the tone for the rest of the conversation Amb. Veliotes joined us. Hussein led off and spoke at length about Jordan’s place in the peace process, Resolution 242, his relationships with the Israelis, his reason for not joining the autonomy negotiations, and his relations with the US. Most of what the King had to say on each of these subjects is familiar to us. What he was obviously trying to do in going over this ground was to convey the impression that he had not deliberately taken a stance at variance with ours but rather that from his point of view at least there [Page 1079] was good reason for what he made. He mentioned, for example, that he had followed Israeli politics closely and had had various contacts with Israeli leaders (he named Peres). He had consistently been disappointed and had concluded that on the matter of a peace settlement there is no real difference between Begin and Peres. In his only expression of criticism during the entire meeting, Hussein said he had been disappointed in the US. He had hoped to work closely with us. Then Camp David came along and he wasn’t told of what was happening either by us or by Sadat. When the Agreement was signed he had “felt betrayed” by Sadat who had assured him that he would let him know in advance. He said people wondered why he hadn’t gone along with the Camp David Accords; it was because he felt himself on the outside. Hussein acknowledged that his stance had affected his relations with the US and President Carter but said he felt he had been misunderstood. The President had interpreted his actions as challenges, which was not at all his intention.
5. When Hussein finished this discourse I briefed him at some length on our efforts in the autonomy negotiations. I said broadly speaking it seemed to me we have a choice of two courses in dealing with the Palestinian issue, either to proceed through the plan of Camp David to gain autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza and thereby further the lot of the Palestinians, or to go back to confrontation. I said we were not asking Hussein to support the Camp David Accords but we do hope to have his understanding for our efforts and would like to be sure he won’t interpose objections or create problems.
6. Hussein assured me that he wanted to be helpful and had no intention to create problems. I said under the circumstances it seemed to me that our work under the Camp David Accords deserves Jordanian understanding and at least no opposition, since some sort of future linkage between the West Bank/Gaza and Jordan would seem to be in Jordan’s interest and not inconsistent with our mutual objectives after the transition period. Hussein agreed that linking the West Bank/Gaza with Jordan might be the right solution. I said it seemed to me therefore that we are on parallel rails and in the end our courses may merge in the same rail. Hussein again assured me that he would not do anything that would hamper our efforts. Our dearest wish is that the negotiations succeed, he said. Hussein did say, however, that it would be important to him that the US come out and state its position on the issues clearly. He felt it important that the US say what it means, even if achievement of its goals may take a long time. He was not specific beyond a reference to 242.
7. Hussein then spoke of his concern over trends in the region, describing developments particularly what he described as the very worrisome situation in Saudi Arabia. He described Saudi leadership as [Page 1080] bankrupt, corrupt and incapable of action. Fahd lacks the ability to run the country effectively but he said the younger group such as Saud might be able to. Hussein said he had tried to warn the Saudis that they face trouble. He was obviously very disturbed by the situation in Saudi Arabia and by Soviet actions in the area, both of which he saw affecting his own position.
8. I asked about the PLO’s refusal to accept Resolution 242 and Israel’s right to exist. Hussein said he thought the PLO could eventually be brought around on both these issues but it will take time. The PLO will have to prove itself worthy of the Palestinian people. Perhaps, he said, the PLO could recognize Israel and Israel the PLO at the same time. Hussein said there must be self-determination for the West Bank and Gaza, to assure a stable result, but significantly he made no mention whatsoever of an independent Palestinian state.
9. Throughout our conversation Hussein was relaxed, gracious and lively. He told me that he hoped we could keep in close touch and that I would be welcome in Amman at any time. He was obviously very pleased with the meeting and your invitation which I think he sees as imparting a sense that the US values him and wants to build back toward a close relationship. Clearly he is concerned about his own position in the Arab world and will be careful in his public pronouncements. But he obviously feels that he has now renewed his line of communication to us after an uncomfortable period of estrangement. My guess is that if we can make real progress in the autonomy negotiations he will find some way to participate even if peripherally.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Subject File, Box 56, Jordan: 12/79–2/80. Secret; Cherokee; Immediate; Nodis. Linowitz’s meeting with Hussein took place in London. (Telegram 591 from Jidda, January 28; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800048–1008) Linowitz then traveled to Cairo as part of his January 24–February 2 Middle East trip, which included stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. (Telegram 19007 to multiple posts, January 23; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800039–0055)↩