Nation: A Sudden Vision of Peace

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was happening at the bargaining tables. After advocating "open diplomacy" in his election campaign and first months in office, Carter proved himself a master of the old-fashioned art of secret negotiations. He even managed to get silence from the often leak-prone Israelis. Premier Begin, for example, told his colleagues in Jerusalem by telephone that he could not say much about the talks because Carter had asked him not to. When Defense Minister Weizman was asked by newsmen how the Israelis were doing, he cryptically responded: "We are doing."

The reason for the successful news blackout was that the Egyptians and Israelis agreed to allow Jody Powell to serve as the sole official outlet of information #151;surely one of the toughest assignments ever handed a White House press secretary. In his daily meetings with reporters inside the American Legion post at Thurmont, Md., six miles from Camp David, Powell kept his statements concise and skillfully avoided conveying anything substantive. He deflected questions about concessions on the part of Israel or Egypt by noting diplomatically: "There's been flexibility shown on both sides." To ensure that this modest observation did not unduly raise hopes for a successful outcome, he added that "substantial differences still remain in important areas" and cautioned against "strong optimism or pessimism."

If Powell's briefings did little more than confirm that a summit was in session, at least they provided a skeletal view of events inside Camp David. In the first days of the conclave, it was clear that the U.S. was feeling out the positions of both the Israelis and Egyptians. As part of this process, the three leaders met together three times, for a total of 6½ hours. Although the three weekend sabbaths—Muslim, Jewish and Christian—slowed the pace of the talks somewhat, they gave the participants an opportunity to review what they had learned and analyze potential areas of compromise.

On the summit's first weekend, the participants took a respite from diplomacy when Carter, at military-buff Begin's request, organized a 3½-hour excursion to Gettysburg's Civil War battlefield, some 17 miles north of Camp David. As the group viewed monuments and century-old cannons, Carter attempted to lighten the mood by joking that the gun had a range of three miles, vs. 300 to 400 yds. for the cluster bombs that the U.S. sold to Israel after the 1973 war. Sadat and Begin somehow managed a laugh. But reporters accompanying the entourage noticed a marked lack of warmth between the Egyptian and Israeli leaders; they barely spoke to each other during the excursion. When Sadat did talk to an Israeli, it was to Weizman, his favorite member of the Begin Cabinet.

As last week's sessions began, Powell indicated that the negotiations had become "even more intense." He stressed that Carter "has been an active participant in the discussions. He has felt free to offer suggestions as they seem to be appropriate." The style and tempo of the summit, in fact, recalled Carter's long pursuit of the presidency: a stubborn, dogged approach to tough issues and an assumption that sheer strength and determination must eventually triumph.

The review of the summit's opening days convinced the U.S. that Begin and Sadat were disagreeing