Christopher Seeks Gesture From Egypt to Buttress Peace

After months of grinding pessimism, all sides in the complex Middle East peace process talked of opportunities, possibilities and a rare good feeling Thursday as Secretary of State Warren Christopher sought to capitalize on the new momentum to bring Israel and Syria to the peace table.

In perhaps the first clear result of the new atmosphere, Christopher meets today in Cairo with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to try to smooth over recent difficulties in the relationship between countries that have been at peace for almost two decades.

“When Egypt and Israel are working together, it has a positive effect not only on the peace process but on the region as a whole,” a senior U.S. official told reporters.

Another official said Washington hopes to persuade Mubarak to make a gesture toward Israel that will underline the fruits of peace to an Israeli public that is growing skeptical about trading the strategic Golan Heights to Syria for a peace treaty.

Although Christopher also plans talks with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and Jordan’s King Hussein before returning to Washington on Monday, the top prize in his latest Middle East shuttle is the sluggish negotiations between Israel and Syria. Christopher travels to Damascus on Saturday for meetings with Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, welcoming Christopher to Israel, called the Israel-Syria negotiations “serious” and said that if Israel can make peace with Damascus, “the Middle East will have no reason to go to war and even can reduce its arms race and turn much of its means and energies to peaceful purposes.”

A senior U.S. official said Arab governments that are not directly involved in the conflict with Israel have begun to urge Syria to make peace. This is a sharp contrast to the situation a generation ago when Arab states on the periphery urged Syria, Egypt and the Palestinians to stand firm against Israel.

Although U.S. and Israeli officials cautioned that peace with Syria is still far from achieved, segments of the Israeli public are starting to get nervous over the implications of a treaty that would require Israel to relinquish the Golan Heights, which it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.

One recent opinion poll found that 56% of the Israeli public opposed returning the Golan. But Rabin’s strategists and U.S. officials believe that Israelis will support a peace treaty package if they are shown its benefits as well as its costs.