FBIS Coverage of the Middle East Peace Talks: 1977 December

PPROVED FOR RELEASE CIA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION AfR 70-14 13NOV201
V. 12 Dec 77 N 9 ISRAEL
[Question] President as-Sadat said in an interview yesterday that the Israeli position
on the Palestinian question would have to change if peace is to be achieved in the
Middle East. Have you worked out a new position on the Palestinian question, and is
Mr Vance carrying any message on this subject to the other Arab countries or is he
carrying any message from you to the other Arab countries?
[Begin] There is a problem of the Palestinian issue. I said so in the presence of
President as-Sadat in the Knesset and we will find a solution for this problem. [long
pause] You expect me to reply to it?
[Question] You made a strong statement in support of Arab unity. Do you plan on this
trip and in subsequent weeks to try to facilitate the Egyptiansr and the other Arabs'
coming together: Have you discussed this with Mr as-Sadat to try and find some way
of bringing the Arabs together?
[Vance] I have discussed with President as-Sadat the questions of the divisions that
exist within the Arab world. He, like all of us, would like to see those divisions
healed and disappear. I will, in my talks with the other Arab leaders, urge them, as
we have from the outset, to participate in the peace talks. We have said this to them
from the moment that the Cairo conference was proposed. They have indicated that they
too seek the same end-objectives, namely, a comprehensive peace which will settle the
questions of the Middle East. And, therefore, I will continue to pursue our position
with respect to this and discuss that matter with them.
[Question] Do you think Arab unity will help the peace process, or, as some Israelis
in the past have suggested, a divided Arab world actually helps Israel?
Begin] I do not agree that a divided Arab world will help Israel. To the contrary,
we believe that we should have peace on all the borders of Israel, signed peace treaties
with all our four neighbors--Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. All the four neighbors
should live in peace with Israel and Israel wants to live in peace with them. We do
not drive wedges. We do not believe in that famous precept known in Latin; divide et
impera. We don't want to divide and we donut want to rule. We want peace. This is
what we believe in.
[Question] At the Tripoli conference the Palestinians took, according to President
as-Sadat, a more extreme position that they would not participate in negotiations
at all. At this stage are you more optimistic as you look down the road to negotiations?
The Palestinians have in fact taken themselves out of the picture.
[Begin] My dear friend, Tripoli cannot make anybody optimistic. When I spoke about
optimism, I meant the trend, the developments. We hope to overcome the negations of
the Tripolitanians. And, of course, it is a most negative phenomenon, for the time
being. What did it say in Tripoli? "No recognition of the State of Israel, no
negotiations with Israel, no peace with Israel." Actually another pronounciamento
was made there that Israel should be destroyed. This is negative, of course. The
Soviet Union is behind that negative attitude, which.is very regrettable, and it is i
a cochairman of the Geneva conference. But this happened, let me say, 2 weeks ago.
And that does not decide the issue. Mankind will march forward. War is evitable;
peace is inevitable. So we shall overcome with a common effort that hurdle, too,
and Syria and Lebanon and Jordan will join in the peace efforts.. Ultimately, we shall
have peace throughout the region. This is our belief.