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Sadat also announced that the Suez Canal would be reopened June 5 — the eighth anniversary of the 1967 war in which Israel's troops reached the east bank of the waterway, resulting in its closing. Although Sadat did not indicate whether Israeli ships or cargo would be allowed to transit the canal, its reopening and the repopulating by Egyptians of towns along its banks have been awaited as concrete signs that Cairo prefers to pursue a policy of peace. He warned, however, that Egypt was capable of protecting the canal: "We possess a deterrent capacity that makes our enemy think twice and thrice before any rashness. Any infringement of any single position on the canal will be met with a sufficient deterrence that will even be more painful."
Sadat sought to walk the diplomatic tightrope between the U.S. and the Soviets. He stressed he "would not recommend a retreat" from the improved relations with the U.S. and Western Europe, but — as was to be expected in wake of the failure of the Kissinger shuttle — he also emphasized that Egypt's ties with the Soviet Union would be placed "in their right position." That will almost certainly mean a warming of Cairo-Moscow relations.
To avoid being made the scapegoat and to protect its chances of getting U.S. aid, the Israeli government, early in the week, launched a campaign to dodge any blame for the failure of the talks. Rabin eagerly explained Israel's position (see interview page 13).
Israeli Ambassador to Washington Simcha Dinitz, meanwhile, flew back to the capital by way of Manhattan, where he spent two hours briefing 150 American Jewish leaders. After hearing Dinitz' explanation of the failure of the talks, members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted to undertake a two-pronged campaign. To protect Israel's request for military assistance, they hope to carry out an end-around play against Old Footballer Jerry Ford by lobbying directly with Congress to continue the level of aid. The conference also hopes to help generate an atmosphere in which bilateral negotiations with Egypt will start again.
What can effectively take the place of the shuttle now is unclear. Israeli officials last week suggested a revival of proximity talks similar to those held in Secretary of State William Rogers' day. Egyptian and Israeli ambassadors, or even foreign ministers, might resume negotiations in Washington with State Department officials serving as middlemen. Far likelier is a resumption of the suspended peace talks in Geneva. That is the aim of the Soviets, who have not interfered with Kissinger's step-by-step talks as long as they did not rule out a later Geneva meeting in which Moscow would be a participant. Kissinger himself always assumed that there eventually would be a return to Geneva.