World: VISIT FROM AN ARAB KING

WHAT the Israelis took by force of arms in the Six-Day War, the Arabs have been trying to recover by force of diplomacy ever since. For 22 months, Arab foreign policy has been aimed at getting the Israelis out of the occupied territories before their presence is ratified by time and their own efforts to fortify and settle some of the area. The talks on the Middle East that started three weeks ago between the U.S., Russia, Britain and France have given the Arabs hope that the Big Four may achieve what they have not brought about themselves: an Israeli withdrawal. Last week Jordan's King Hussein came to the U.S. to further that cause, in both public speeches and private talks with President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State William Rogers.

Vague Smoke Screen. He brought one new concession to the Israelis—at least one that has never before been offered quite so explicitly by an Arab leader. In a talk to Washington's National Press Club, Hussein promised Israel guarantees of free passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba as part of a six-point Arab plan for settlement. Since only Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser could deliver on that particular promise, Hussein was clearly speaking for Egypt as well as Jordan. Nasser and Hussein had, in fact, jointly prepared the statement.

The U.S. welcomed the offer, since any sign of yielding by either side in the Middle East has been hard to come by. But Israel, though it will study the plan at a weekend Cabinet meeting, promptly dismissed the six points as nothing more than a "vague smoke screen," a propaganda maneuver designed to lend an air of reasonableness to the Arabs' position. Other points in the plan stipulated that Israel must return all territory, including the Arab sector of Jerusalem, conquered in the 1967 war. This Israel is not prepared to do without a genuine settlement negotiated directly with the Arabs. "If the Jordanians have a constructive plan," said Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gideon Rafael, "let them bring it to the table." The Israelis believe that any recommendations by the Big Four are likely to demand more from them than from the Arabs, and thus they have opposed the talks, which continued last week in New York.

Hussein is aptly cast as the Arab spokesman to the West. By being forced to yield Arab Jerusalem and the West Bank, his nation lost proportionately more than other Arab nations in the war; accordingly, he stands to gain more by a settlement. He also needs that settlement most. The popularity he enjoyed two years ago is ebbing to such a degree that he reportedly has threatened abdication. In recent months, a host of unsavory rumors have sprung up about the King's financial dealings and his personal life. True or not, most Jordanians believe them. Undermined by such rumors and his inability to recover the lost lands or cope with Israeli reprisals, Hussein's support among the once fanatically loyal Bedouin tribesmen is diminishing. Many idealistic junior army officers have turned away, and he is having a hard time getting men to serve in his Cabinet. Candidates want either more power than the King is willing to yield them or a share of the reported spoils.