Israel-Egypt Summit Outlook Called Positive

Israeli Cabinet minister Ezer Weizman met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday and told reporters afterward that prospects are “very positive” for a summit meeting between Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Weizman, a former commander of the Israeli air force who played a key role in talks leading to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, acknowledged that problems still block improvement in Egyptian-Israeli relations.

But he said the chances for a summit are “very positive” as long as “certain preparations” are made.

Weizman, a minister without portfolio whose mission to Egypt has generated major controversy within Israel’s coalition government, did not specify those preparations to reporters.

But Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid, in a policy statement, indicated that the preparations will include resolution of a Sinai Peninsula border dispute, an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and improvements in conditions for Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied territories.

Exchange of Opinions

“We exchanged opinions about what sort of action should be taken,” Weizman said of his two-hour talk with Mubarak.

“I am sure that the president will meet after the preparations with the prime minister of Israel, Mr. Peres, and I am sure when the two gentlemen meet, knowing both of them very well, they will find a common language and not only solve problems but develop new ideas and a basis for the benefit of the Middle East and the entire area.”

The summit would be the first between the leaders of Egypt and Israel since the summer of 1981, when former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat met in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat a few months before Sadat was assassinated in Cairo.

The Egyptian Information Ministry said Weizman will also confer with Meguid and Prime Minister Kamal Hassan Ali during his visit to Egypt, the only Arab country to have made peace with Israel.

Endorsement by Cabinet

Weizman arrived in Cairo hours after the Israeli Cabinet endorsed his visit over the objections of the right-wing Likud bloc and its allies.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, leader of Likud, objected to the mission as an encroachment on foreign policy, over which he has responsibility.

The open fight between Peres and Shamir, his chief political rival, also raised doubts about the durability of the troubled Israeli coalition government and accentuated policy differences between the Labor Party and the Likud, which opposes the return of occupied territory to Arab control as part of a peace settlement.

Weizman told reporters that he does not believe the controversy over his visit will affect his talks with Mubarak.

“It is now easier for me to point out to my Egyptian friends that there are different opinions in Israel, and people here will have to be persuaded to go along with my way of thinking,” he said.

Question of Concessions

Egypt’s state-controlled news media reported the visit but gave no indication whether Mubarak was prepared to offer any concessions to Peres, such as returning Cairo’s ambassador to Israel.

Mubarak withdrew the envoy in September, 1982, to protest the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the murder of Palestinian civilians by pro-Israeli Lebanese militiamen in Beirut refugee camps under Israeli military control.

Since then, Mubarak has listed three conditions for returning the ambassador. They are the resolution of the Sinai border dispute, an Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon and improvements in conditions for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza Strip.

During his talks in Cairo, Weizman is also expected to discuss a proposal by Mubarak for reviving Mideast peace talks, which broke down in 1982.