Documents / FOIA release
This is a Central Intelligence Agency release of Foreign Broadcast Information Service coverage of the Middle East peace talks from December 1977. It collects British, Israeli and Soviet press and radio items on President as-Sadat's initiative and the planned Cairo conference. It also covers Prime Minister Begin's visit to London, Secretary of State Vance's regional tour and the Knesset debate on the peace plan. It contains no material on unidentified aerial phenomena.
“Cairo”42 pages
PPROVED FOR RELEASE CIA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS DIVISI N,AR.7&14 13NOV201 V. 28 Dec 77 N 9 ISRAEL We K:ould also wish and yearn.that during the weeks or months in which the two committees are meeting they will reach an agreement, and if there is an agreement, it will serve as a basis for peace treaties which, in that case, will be signed by authorized representatives of Israel and of Egypt. It may be said that at the Ismailia meeting the two parties agreed also on a joint statement. Its publication, however, was prevented because the two delegations did not arrive at a joint and agreed-upon formula regarding the issue which we call--and justly--the problem of Eretz Yisra'el's Arabs, while the Egyptians call it, in their language--and this is their right to use their language--the problem of the Palestinian people. We tried, we made an effort to arrive at a joint formula. It transpired, however, that we were unable to accept one or the other version. If it was proposed by the Egyptian delegation, it was unacceptable to us, and if it was proposed by the Israeli delegation, it was unacceptable to the Egyptians. Accordingly, sometime between 2200 and 2230 on Sunday night, we postponed the meeting until Monday morning, assuming that with a mutual endeavor we would find a way out. And indeed the way out has been found: a kind of an agreement about a joint formula, based on precedents in international conferences. lie proposed--and our proposal was accepted--that each side present its position, using its own language. For this reason, the announcement about the problem of the Arabs of Eretz Yisra'el, as it was read by the Egyptian president at our joint press conference, consisted of two parts, namely: [begin quotes in English] The position of Egypt is that a Palestinian state should be established in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The positinn of Israel is that the Palestinian Arabs residing in Judaea, Samaria and the Gaza district should enjoy self-rule. (end quotation] ' Because of the difference on this subject, the publication of the statement--over the content of which there had been full agreement--was prevented. We did not deem it proper to press for the publication of a joint statement if the Egyptian side was saying that under such circumstances it was unable to sign it. I wish to go on record, however, that the content itself was agreed upon by both delegations jointly. [several indistinct . interjections, to which Begin seems to give the following retorts] Of the joint statements. If it was not released, why release it from the Knesset rostrum? This will belong to the debate, Mr Yadlin. And I have learned, particularly in the committees, that if one says he does not understand, it means he does not agree, especially an intelligent person like you. Iir Chairman, with the completion of the meeting in Ismailia, we have done our part, we have made our contribution. From now on, the floor belongs to the other side. We, for the sake of peace, for the sake of a peace treaty, have-shouldered a great responsibility and, indeed, many risks. And already now, since my return from the United States, a difficult and painful debate is being waged between me and my best friends. Just as I told them, I will also say from the Knesset rostrum: that if I was fated to conduct such a debate, I will accept the sentence with love. They are my friends; we went a long way together, in both difficult and good days.
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 65 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.