Shortly before leaving Washington, Mr. Rabin appeared on CBS television programme "Face the Nation" and discussed Israel's concept of the proposed interim agreement with Egypt. The purpose of some of the talks, said Mr. Rabin, was "to eliminate any misunderstandings and any misconceptions about the positions" of Israel and the U.S. This was an allusion to the breakdown of the talks in March and Dr. Kissinger's remarks that he was "misled" by Israel's leaders. In this interview the duration of the proposed agreement, three to five years, was first mentioned publicly. Excerpts:
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, we just barely got you here in time after a meeting this morning with Secretary of State Kissinger. May I ask, why the additional meetings with the Secretary - is it because of motion or because of lack of motion?
A: Well, this meeting with the Secretary was set on Friday, and it was announced on Friday. The purpose is to continue the talks that I had with the President, and to go into more details about the various elements of the various options in which we would like to work together with the United States Government, with the purpose to find better ways to move towards peace, and to eliminate any misunderstandings and any misconceptions about the positions of the two sides.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, you say that you and Secretary Kissinger held the additional meetings, especially this morning's one, to get more details to eliminate misunderstandings. It seems to me that after all the talks that you've had both directly and through Ambassadors, that there could hardly be more details necessary or misunderstanding to eliminate, unless there was some new area that you were discussing.
A: Well, we discussed basically the two options - the possibility to move towards peace through an interim agreement between Egypt and Israel, but also to see the sequence of events that might be developed if an interim agreement will be reached. We have also to weigh what would happen in case an interim agreement between Egypt and Israel will not be reached. I believe that it's worthwhile, after having long talks with President Ford, to pursue it into really the whole complexity of these two problems.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, you just said that you were probing the longer range considerations. This obviously refers to instructions you had from the Cabinet, prior to your departure, in looking forward to what may happen after the interim agreement. Now there seems to be some contradiction between an interim agreement and an overall agreement in this context, which - you're asking for detailed analysis and precision of points in the future. Isn't that in fact a mixing of the interim agreement idea with an effort to clarify the overall settlement?
A: Well, even if an interim agreement between Egypt and Israel will be reached, we know it's just a step towards peace. The purpose of such a step is to create a more relaxed atmosphere in the area, to have a longer period for deliberation, for talks about the elements of an overall settlement. The idea of an interim agreement is to have a period of several years in which the interim agreement will be the deciding factor; but it doesn't mean that in the meantime efforts will not be done to achieve an understanding about the possibilities of an overall agreement.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, you mentioned several years. Would Israel settle - or could Israel settle for three years for an interim agreement with Egypt?
A: I don't want to discuss the details about the numbers of the years. Therefore, I stress the word several years.
Q: But you would have no quarrel - several years could run between three and five?
A: You said it. But the idea of the interim agreement is to create, as I said before, the kind of growing confidence to encourage certain forces, especially in Egypt, with the purpose to change realities in the area, and to create the confidence that would make it possible to move easier toward an overall settlement.
Q: Is there now a basis for such an interim agreement?
A: Well, I believe that the basic idea is that - learning the lessons of the March negotiations - that unless both sides -and I stress both sides - will not be forthcoming vis-a-vis their positions in March, I doubt if an interim agreement will be reached. In the Middle East, one has to be hopeful, and I'm sure that in the coming weeks we would be able to know to what extent this is possible.
Q: Mr. Prime Minister, as we all know, at the beginning of the March negotiations, the basic positions were that the Israelis were willing to give up a major part of the Sinai in exchange for a statement of non-belligerency by the Egyptians. In the course of those negotiations, the Israelis realized that Egypt was not prepared to give a statement of this type, and so negotiations focused on the - on non-use of force, in return for which Israel was not prepared then to make such a major geographical withdrawal from the Sinai. Is there any change now which might permit Israel to make this withdrawal - for example, with an emphasis on the duration question?
A: Without going into the details, allow me to remind you that we put two proposals of an interim agreement - a wide interim agreement, in which we were ready to withdraw deeply into Sinai for the end of State of War or non-belligerency. Since this proposal was rejected, we focused on the limited interim agreement, in which we did not ask either the end of State of War on non-belligerency: we were ready to be satisfied with the non-use of force. Of course, for a more limited quid-pro-quo by the Egyptians we are ready to give much less, to what we were ready to give in the wider interim agreement.
Q: But until that could start the process - small - smaller steps on each side.
A: Well, basically, it will be along the same concept for which the interim agreement was devised. It is to say, to create a different atmosphere in the area for a certain period, which will facilitate efforts to bring about an overall settlement.
Q: You say no settlement can be reached unless both sides are forthcoming. Is each side now being forthcoming?
A: I believe that is what we are going to see in the coming week or weeks ahead of us, and unless there will be forthcoming on both sides, I doubt if an interim agreement between Egypt and Israel will be reached.