MIDDLE EAST: The Battle Over the Passes

Israeli Ambassador to Washington Simcha Dinitz flew down to the Virgin Islands last week, but not for the sunshine and sea breezes of Cancel Bay. Dinitz instead spent two days conferring secretly with vacationing Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about the status of Israeli-Egyptian negotiations over further disengagement in the Sinai. Dinitz capped those talks with follow-up meetings at the State Department, then flew home to Israel to attend a crucial weekend meeting of Premier Yitzhak Rabin's Cabinet. As if to underscore the urgency of his mission, shortly after his return a terrorist bomb went off in Jerusalem's main square, killing 13 persons and injuring 72. It was the bloodiest incident in the city since the fighting that preceded Israel's founding in 1948.

Dinitz carried with him the details of what Washington believes are the final Egyptian proposals for a second-stage Sinai deal. He also brought a special hint from Washington: if Israel agrees to U.S.-backed Egyptian demands that it withdraw its forces completely from the strategic Mitla and Giddi passes and the Abu Rudeis oilfields, then Israel may be able to count on continued American military, economic and political support.

These latest developments in the Sinai talks, which have swayed from the verge of success to the edge of collapse since Kissinger's shuttle talks deadlocked last March, elicited both optimism and pessimism. The optimists for the most part were American. One U.S. policy expert rated the odds at "better than even" that the Israeli Cabinet could come up with suitable concessions for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat that would be palatable at home as well as abroad. If it did, said the expert, the second-stage disengagement could be wrapped up easily.

Invitation to War. Washington's hopeful mood was not shared by Jerusalem. The Israelis are unhappy about their growing conflict with Washington. Kissinger and President Ford have privately blamed Israel for the collapse of the shuttle talks. As part of its reassessment of Middle East policy, the Administration has so far refused to discuss $2.5 billion worth of new aid and arms requests from the Rabin government—a not so subtle pressure on Jerusalem to yield. Ford called Dinitz to the White House to discuss the Egyptian proposals on the Sinai. In Israel, there were exaggerated stories that the President had given the ambassador a "brutal" ultimatum to make concessions or risk losing U.S. support. Ford denied that he had given Dinitz any ultimatum but insisted that a Sinai deadlock was "an open invitation to war." Unless the deadlock ends, Ford indicated, the U.S. may be forced to agree to a Geneva conference, which it does not really want under such conditions, and might make its own suggestions there for a solution. Complained Ma'ariv, Israel's largest newspaper: "The Americans are pressing Israel against the wall."