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One man who apparently believes Israel must make a generous response to Egypt is Begin's own Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan. Some observers fear their disagreements on policy could lead to at least a temporary paralysis of Israeli diplomacy. In his Knesset speech, Begin insisted that Israel was not seeking a separate peace with Egypt or attempting to "drive any wedges between Arab countries." On a four-day visit to West Germany, where he conferred with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, visited the former Nazi death camp at Bergen-Belsen and viewed 30 ancient Egyptian and Coptic relics on display in Bonn, Dayan was also asked about a separate peace with Sadat. "Any time, any time," he answered—adding, however, that Israel would prefer to negotiate with all the confrontation states. "But if they do not come, then it is better to negotiate with Egypt alone than not to negotiate at all."
It is precisely this possibility, that Sadat might make a separate deal with Israel, that both angers and frightens the radical Arabs. At the start of the Tripoli summit, Libya's Gaddafi said to P.L.O. Leader Yasser Arafat: "I told you all along that Sadat was not a man to trust. Now you know that I was right." Arafat shook his head in silent acquiescence. Without Saudi backing, Sadat simply could not sign such a peace agreement and hope to keep his stature as a leader within the Arab world. In Cairo, however, some diplomats last week were speculating about the prospect of a more subtle scenario for either the Cairo meeting or Geneva. Egypt—with the U.S. as watchful monitor—would negotiate an overall peace with Israel on behalf of all the confrontation powers. Once a draft was agreed upon, Sadat would present it to an Arab summit. If they agreed, all would be well. If they did not—so goes the theory—Sadat might then sign the document by himself. But as one of his aides carefully noted (with a grin), "It would not be a separate peace. We would leave blank spaces on the treaty for the others to sign whenever they liked." ∎
* The invitation was formally handed to Israel's U.N. Ambassador Chaim Herzog by his Egyptian counterpart, Esmat Abdel Meguid, at a secret meeting in New York. In another display of post-Jerusalem good-fellowship, Ambassadors to Washington Simcha Dinitz of Israel and Ashraf Ghorbal of Egypt were joint guests of honor at a Sunday dinner given by ABC's Barbara Walters.