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 DIVISION AR 70-14 13NOV201 V. 6 Dec 77 N 4 ISRAEL MA'ARIV says that the mission of Under Secretary of State Philip Habib in Moscow and Secretary of State Vance's departure for the Middle East prove that Washington has decided to resume an active role in the political momentum and unflinchingly support the Egyptian- - Israeli initiative. YEDI'Tr AHARONOT doubts whether Syria and its subservient PLO deserve to be the recipients of Vance's vists, since the two would notabe going so far in their opposition to Egypt were it not for the political and military power of the Soviet Union behind them. TV Commentator Ben-Yishay TA052003Y Jerusalem Domestic Television Service in Hebrew 1900 GMT 5 Dec 77 TA [Text) It was officially confirmed in Jerusalem today that U.S. Secretary of State Vance will depart for a tour of several Middle East countries and will arrive in Israel on Saturday evening. He will be received by Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan at Ben-Gurion Airport. Mr Vance will arrive in Israel from Egypt. Later he will continue to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Mr Vance will be accompanied on his tour by Under Secretary for Political Affairs Philip Habib and Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Alfred Atherton. Our political correspondent Ron Ben-Yishay reports on this visit: [Ben-Yishay--live] After sitting on the fence for about .2weeks, U.S. diplomacy is setting out on the road. Cyrus Vance, the secretary of state, is taking advantage of the respite before the opening of the Cairo conference to collect firsthand impressions of the positions of the parties in the region. A senior diplomatic source in the U.S. Embassy told me that no dramatic developments are to be expected, or U.S. plans or statements. In Jerusalem, too, it is believed that the Americans need the information in. order to reassess the situation created in the region in the wake of .President as-Sadat's initiative. The U.S. secretary of state will want to check the chances of the success of the Cairo conference, and what is more important, the ___ chances of the secret contacts to be held simultaneiously with it. If the chances for reaching an agreement or at least an understanding between Israel and Egypt are good, the Americans will want to cultivate the Cairo conference and put off the Geneva conference a little. If an explosion is expected in Cairo, the Americans will try to maneuver the parties directly to Geneva after a short symbolic move in Cairo. The Americans are encouraged by their diplomatic success in postponing the Cairo conference. This postponement allowed them time to achieve the silent agreement of the Saudis and the congratulations of King Husayn. The delay also made it possible for the Cairo conference to stand out against the background of the relative failure of the Tripoli conference today. Now Uncle Sam's diplomats want to keep the initiative in their hands. They will want to examine the conditions under which King Husayn will be ready to join As-Sadat's initiative and the degree of Saudi support that can be counted on from now on. President al-Asad, who also refused to join the position of the extremists at the Tripoli conference, is now an object of U.S. hopes. The secretary of state will probably want to check the price of Syrian cooperation. The Americans are interested now in having as many countries as possible join the Egyptain president's initiative. The secretary of state will do his utmost in this direction.
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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.