Word: allonal
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...first step may be taken this week when Israeli Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yigal Allon sees Kissinger in Washington. During a December visit to the U.S., Allon told Kissinger that in return for Egyptian concessions, such as a declaration of nonbelligerence, Israel was prepared to give up as many as 50 miles in some parts of occupied Sinai. Sadat rejected this proposal as "unacceptable," on the ground that the Israelis were not willing to surrender either the strategic Mitla and Giddi desert passes or the captured Egyptian oil wells at Abu Rudeis, which supply Israel with about...
...question is: What will Allon propose now? Officials in Jerusalem hint that Israel might return the oilfields if it received a guaranteed substitute source (possibly the U.S.) for the 25 million bbl. Abu Rudeis now pumps out annually. Israel might also give up the passes, according to these officials, if: 1) the area were demilitarized, 2) the term of the disengagement ran for several years, 3) Israeli cargoes (though not necessarily Israeli ships) had rights of passage through the Suez Canal, and 4) Egypt tacitly agreed to some kind of assurance of nonbelligerence. Egypt may find some of these points...
Since progress toward a settlement has been stalled for so long, Kissinger is likely to lose little time in ascertaining Egypt's response to whatever Allon brings to Washington. Thus it is expected that either Fahmy will visit Washington soon after Allon departs, or that Kissinger will fly off to the Middle East for another round of shuttle diplomacy. At week's end, though, several Arab states, as well as Iran, reacted angrily to a Kissinger statement that, "in the gravest emergency," the U.S. might consider using military force against Middle East oil producers...
...Israelis are also apprehensive about the apparent drift toward war, though they still seem unprepared to make any concessions that might lead to meaningful negotiations. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon left the impression in a recent trip to Washington that on the eve of the Sadat-Brezhnev meeting in Cairo, the Israelis see little point in making a firm commitment for a further withdrawal either in Sinai or on the Golan...
Kissinger's present plan is to resume discussions between Israel and Egypt, especially since Cairo, with its economic problems, now seems more amenable to peace talks than Damascus. Toward that end, Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon will visit Washington next week. One difficulty is that Israel so far appears unwilling to agree to a key Egyptian point in these talks: the return of the Abu Rudeis oilfields, which were captured by Israeli forces in the Six-Day War and have been pumping out oil for Israel ever since...