MIDDLE EAST: Sadat: The Hour of Decision

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In Egypt, millions had watched in wonderment as television cameras followed Sadat's visits to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and recorded his speech to the Knesset. Returning home, Sadat got a tumultuous hero's welcome. In a slightly orchestrated campaign of support, messages of thanks and encouragement poured into Cairo from Morocco, Jordan, the Sudan, Kuwait and—most important —Saudi Arabia, whose grants and loans keep Egypt from bankruptcy. The Saudis had been startled by Sadat's decision to visit Jerusalem; Sadat had made it a particular point to brief them beforehand, but like everyone else, they did not believe he was serious. However, Riyadh was pleased by Sadat's strong stand for Arab rights rather than narrow Egyptian advantages. The Saudis refused to take sides publicly, but sent a private emissary to Cairo, affirming support.

Sadat needed that backing, since elsewhere in the Arab world he was denounced furiously as a traitor to the cause. Libya closed its docks and airports to traffic from Egypt. Abetted by Yasser Arafat and other leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi tried to enlist Syria in a newly enlarged "rejection front" that would also include Iraq, Algeria and the Palestinians. Gaddafi dangled cash and French-supplied Mirage III jets as incentives. Declared he: "I will extend unlimited support to pull the traitor Sadat down before he drags us into new infamous adventures." Although the anti-Sadat rhetoric that emerged from Damascus last week was pure vitriol (SADAT WENT TO ISRAEL TO LICK THE ZIONIST BOOT, screamed the Damascus daily Tishrin), Syrian President Hafez Assad refused to commit himself to the anti-Sadat alignment. For one thing, the ideological animosity between the ruling Baath parties of Syria and Iraq is almost as deep as the two countries' hatred of Israel. For another, Assad basically is as committed to peace talks as is Sadat, who discounted the animosity of his crusty colleague. "I am sure Assad wil come round," he told TIME Correspondent Wilton Wynn. "He always behaves this way. Remember, after I signed the 1975 second Sinai accord, Assad attacked me for a whole year, but in the end he came around."

After his return home, Sadat confided to advisers that he thought Geneva could be convened by the end of December or perhaps early in January. Preparation for the conference, he estimated, could be handled in two or three weeks of hard work. U.S. diplomats, among others, regard that timetable as far too optimistic, even though the U.S. is as anxious as anyone to get to Geneva; some believe that March might be a more reasonable target date. If a conference begins earlier, the possibility exists that it would be attended only by Israel, Egypt, Jordan—and the U.S. and the Soviet Union, as cosponsors.