MIDDLE EAST: Sadat: The Hour of Decision

Exploiting his diplomatic breakthrough, he calls for a summit in Cairo

Puffing contentedly on his pipe, President Anwar Sadat gazed out the window of Egyptian 01 at one of the Israeli Kfir fighters that escorted him part of the way from Tel Aviv to Cairo. "Just look at what has changed in only 40 hours," he said. "Did you ever dream that Anwar Sadat would be received as a hero in Israel?"

If only for the extraordinarily warm welcome he received on his historic "sacred mission," Sadat probably had a right to declare himself "100% satisfied" with his trip. Although he returned home without specific concessions—in fact, he did not expect any, at least not right away—the Egyptian President had suddenly transformed the nature and direction of Middle East diplomacy. Once more the road to Geneva was open, and the possibility of a Middle East settlement was something more than a distant dream.

Exploiting the breakthrough, Sadat last week invited "all the parties to the conflict—including Israel—to meet here in Cairo and prepare for a Geneva conference." He told the cheering Egyptian national People's Assembly that he was prepared to be host to such a meeting as early as this week. Sadat's announcement caught the eligible participants—Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the U.S. and the Soviet Union—by surprise. The Israelis indicated that they were willing to attend. Syria, seething over Sadat's overtures to Israel, rejected the invitation flatly. The U.S. was interested— but not in being the only other party at an Israeli-Egyptian minisummit. At week's end other nations were still debating their responses.

Unexpected events created by instant diplomacy no longer seemed impossible after Sadat's trip to Jerusalem. By his visit and a tough but compassionate speech to the Knesset, he had acknowledged Israel's right to exist in a way few Jews ever expected from an Arab leader. He and Premier Menachem Begin had made a mutual pledge: "No more war." The Egyptian President made it clear that this promise was a conditional one—namely that there would be no more war if Israel accepted a peace agreement that included the return of all Arab territories occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israelis were disappointed that Sadat had not given one inch on that longstanding Arab demand. Nonetheless, they also had a strong new feeling that his trip had been so extraordinary that it was now their turn to respond in some creative way to the Egyptian President's gesture. Foreign Minister Dayan stressed repeatedly last week that Sadat had created "an hour of decision" for Israel and indeed all the Middle East. Said Dayan: "All the old concepts—proximity talks, shuttles—have fallen by the wayside and we have now been confronted with the need to decide, not just on technical matters but on the very substance of issues. We will have to decide what to suggest, where to give up more and where to give up less."