MIDDLE EAST: Heading for a Political Crossing

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The Israelis and the Arabs clearly had a bad case of the jitters as they waited for the start of the Middle East peace conference in Geneva this week. Along the Suez and the Golan Heights there was a series of cease-fire violations—none serious, but all potentially dangerous. From the antagonists came threats and hints that they might boycott the talks. At week's end, U.S. officials admitted that the talks might be delayed "a day or two," but expressed confidence they would take place.

Basically, the positions of the Israelis and the Arabs have remained unchanged since Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's first whirlwind visit to the region in early November. Four of the six points in Kissinger's cease-fire plan have been satisfactorily carried out. One—the cease-fire itself—remains uncertain. But the most crucial of all, the "disengagement and separation of forces," has failed completely. Arab-Israeli negotiations at Kilometer 101 on the Cairo-Suez road were broken off two weeks ago by Egypt, which charged that the Israelis had no intention of pulling their forces back to the Oct. 22 lines. The United Nations Emergency Force negotiating tent at Kilometer 101 has remained empty ever since.

Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Syria's President Hafez Assad met in Cairo early in the week to discuss joint strategy for Geneva. Egypt had already affirmed that it would attend the conference, but with "vigilance and with continued mobilization." Egypt was not prepared, warned Deputy Premier Mohamed Abdel Kader Hatem, to live once again with a no-peace-no-war stalemate. It would insist on Israeli withdrawal and on recognition of "the rights of the Palestinians." The Syrians have threatened to boycott the conference unless the Israelis withdraw from the Arab territory they have occupied since 1967. Nonetheless, Assad agreed to attend the conference as a gesture of solidarity with President Sadat.

Enthusiastic Sponsor. At the same time, the Israelis were apparently yielding, if somewhat reluctantly, to Kissinger's insistence that the Geneva conference must begin on schedule. They were bolstered last week by the House of Representatives' passage of a $2.2 billion aid bill, and by the continuing resupply of U.S. arms—indications, they believed, that the U.S. wanted them to go to Geneva in a strong position. But some Cabinet members, notably Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, maintained that Israel should boycott the conference until Syria released a list of Israeli war prisoners. Other Cabinet members contended that Israel should attend the opening of the conference but refuse to negotiate directly with the Syrians until the list of prisoners was forthcoming.