Already in January 1980, Egypt rejected the proposed Israeli model for the self-governing authority as agreed upon in Camp David. Israel, in turn, rejected the Egyptian model which contained many items contradicting the Camp David accords, and if accepted would be the basis for an embryo Palestinian state. Egypt, however, agreed in February to continue the negotiations on the basis of categories of powers for the administrative council of the autonomy, but later changed its mind and refused to negotiate on this basis. In view of the impasse, President Carter decided to invite separately President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin to Washington. Following is the text of the White House statement and excerpts of the briefing with Press Secretary Jody Powell, explaining the U.S. position:
WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT
President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin will meet separately with President Carter in Washington during the month of April. The dates of their visits are yet to be decided. The purpose of the meetings will be to review the progress and pace of autonomy negotiations for the West Bank and Gaza. The negotiations are being conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Camp David accords signed by all three leaders on September the seventeenth, 1978.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING
Q: Was the president averse to holding a summit, and what made him decide to meet separately? Apparently they have been asking for these meetings.
Mr. Powell: The reason for these meetings is that all of the parties to the Camp David accords felt that the time was appropriate, given the importance of the issues under negotiation and the May 26th goal for the architects of Camp David, to discuss the progress that has been made to date, and to explore means to move forward.
It was the judgment of those involved that this or these purposes could best be accomplished under the format that I have described to you. Let me, in that context, just remind you of the difference between the context in which we now operate and that in 1978 when the three leaders met together at Camp David. In 1978, there was no framework for discussions. There was very little agreement on any of the issues involved; there was no peace between these two nations. Now, you have a framework, and you have ongoing negotiations on the particular question involved here, that is to say the question of autonomy.
In 1978, that concept had little, if any, reality so far as the three governments were concerned. Since that time, through the work of Ambassador Linowitz and of Ambassador Strauss previously, the governments, the bureaucracies of all three parties, have become engaged in a massive way in the consideration of, in the study of, in the discussion of this concept of autonomy, and what it means and how it could be implemented.
These are meetings in support of on-going negotiations. That is quite a different situation than we faced in the late summer of 1978, and that is the basic reason.
Q: Jody, could this be preliminary to a summit?
Mr. Powell: That is not the intent here, and I don't want to try to close the door on anything, but I would strongly guide you away from the idea that this is in fact part of a process that is intended to move toward that sort of thing. I do not intend to raise that possibility.
Q: The president is disappointed, is he not, with the lack of progress?
Mr. Powell: Well, the president and the other two leaders have a mutual interest in the successful completion of the past and commitments undertaken in the Camp David accords. And, as I said earlier, there is growing out of that interest in, that concern for the successful completion - there is a mutual interest, at this time, in bringing together the architects of that agreement. I would remind you that President Carter has not met, for almost a year now, with either Prime Minister Begin or President Sadat, for the purpose of taking stock of the progress to date and for the purpose of exploring means to move forward.
I will reemphasize what I said earlier. These meetings are not designed to replace a negotiating process. These meetings are designed to support an existing negotiating process.
Q: But that negotiating process was underway - I mean, the deadline wasn't until the end of May. What made the president feel that it was time for him to step in and Mr. Powell: I think - well, that is toward the end of May. It was felt, and it seems to me, it makes a great deal of sense that it was better to - given the two purposes that I have outlined - it was better for them to meet somewhat -in this case less than two months - but still somewhat in advance of the goals set at Camp David rather than waiting until that goal was upon us.
Q: But you are not denying that there was some dissatisfaction here with the process - with the progress of the negotiations.
Mr. Powell: Look, the issues involved here in autonomy - the autonomy negotiations - and you can break them down into two general areas: Under the question of autonomy, first how is the governing authority selected or elected; and second, what will be the powers, authority and responsibilities of that self-governing authority. Those issues are extremely difficult. They are extremely important to both Israel and Egypt, and the efforts to resolve them have been intensive. The president and the other parties involved are interested now in - for the reasons I gave earlier - in meeting at the highest level. These are the sort of issues that at some point, everyone has always recognized would have to be dealt with at the highest level because of their importance and their sensitivity and it was simply felt that it was appropriate under the circumstances for the president to meet with these leaders at this particular time.
Q: Jody, is the president determined to keep the March 26th deadline
Mr. Powell: The May 26 deadline was set by agreement, by letter exchanged between Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat at the time of the Camp David summit and the signing of the Camp David accords.
Q: You are calling that a deadline. That is the first time anybody has called it a deadline.
Q: Can you let him finish his answer?
Q: Is it a target date or is it a deadline?
Mr. Powell: It is a goal. That is the way it is referred to in the letter. Let me read you that line: Egypt and Israel set for themselves the goal of completing the negotiations within one year, so that elections will be held as expeditiously as possible after agreement has been reached between the two parties.
Q: One of the reasons for seeking the meeting with the president and these two leaders - was any of the consequences of the U.N. vote controversy any reason for the president to seek these meetings with the two leaders.
Mr. Powell: That was not related to this decision. This has been under consideration for at least a couple of weeks. I don't think you will find anybody that is familiar with the process that would Mr. Powell: The visit of Ambassador Linowitz, as I said, has been scheduled for some time, since the last meeting at The Hague. Since the purpose of this visit would be, one of the purposes, would be to work out or lay the groundwork for these two visits; and since, as we all know, in this process, from years of experience, once discussions begin on such a matter, it immediately begins to leak out: We felt it wise to go ahead and announce that agreement had been reached on the meetings so that we could, to the extent possible, place it in the proper context for you, rather than - frankly, as you know, the thing had begun to leak this morning.
Q: When was the agreement reached?
Q: When were the invitations formally extended?
Mr. Powell: The invitations were extended formally yesterday, I believe.
Q: No date?
Mr. Powell: And you see how long it took it to get out.
Q: Was there some thought for Vice President Mondale to make a trip to the Mideast that was scrubbed?
Mr. Powell: No, I'm not aware of that.
Q: There are a lot of reports to that effect.
Mr. Powell: Yes, There are a lot of reports on a lot of things.
Q: Jody, first, can you tell us whether or not who will come first, Begin or Sadat?
Mr. Powell: I don't know that.
Q: Jody, the second thing is, your announcement earlier did not mention Jerusalem, which is quite significant in view of what happened on March Ist. Is it possible that Jerusalem will not be a subject of discussion between the president and these two leaders in terms of a decision on Jerusalem?
Q: It's not part of autonomy.
Mr. Powell: It is not part of the autonomy talks.
Q: Jerusalem is not part of the autonomy talks?
Mr. Hunter: It's just in the sense of the status of residents of East Jerusalem in terms of voting but it's not directly in autonomy, no.
Q: Would you repeat that please? Except in the status of what?
Mr. Hunter: Except in - regarding the question of the status of residents of East Jerusalem in relationship to voting for its upcoming authority, that Jerusalem is not part of the Camp David framework as such.
Q: In view of the president's expressed unhappiness with the settlements problem, was the reason that Begin was not invited to meet with the president and Sadat at the same time because it would appear that there was a two against one problem involved?
Mr. Powell: No. I have described to you in general terms, as accurately as I can, the feeling, to the best of my understanding, of all the parties involved, about the proper format to conduct this and the key to that is, as I said earlier, that this is not a set of meetings that are designed to replace a negotiating process or that are designed for the president of the United States to re-enter in a personal way the negotiating process. These meetings are in support of an existing and ongoing negotiating process, and a process in which the president has great confidence and certainly great confidence in the work and efforts of Ambassador Linowitz.