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Reflections
Mondale voices optimism and caution over Israel
Trude B. Feldman
While House correspondent
WASHINGTON-“We’re not
pressuring Israel. We’re not trying
to substitute our judgment for
Israel’s. We have never withheld
essential aid from Israel and we
will not do so. We’re trying to be a
constructive force for progress
toward peace in the Middle East."
Vice President Walter F.
Mondale stressed these views and
others as he assessed his recent trip
to Israel and Egypt during a wide-
ranging exclusive interview.
Sitting in his White House office
last week—after having reported
to President Carter on his four-day
goodwill visit—Mondale voiced
both optimism and caution.
“I’d call it a worthwhile and
successful trip,” the Vice President
said, “because I believe that it
strengthened trust.”
After two long conferences with
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin, Mondale spent several
hours with Egypt’s President
Anwar el Sadat and Vice President
Mubarak in Alexandria, Egypt.
After these high-level
discussions, what does the Vice
President of the United States
think is the key to peace in the
Middle East at this time?
Mondale answered thought
fully: “If you ask me to choose one
thing, it would be the
commencement of serious
negotiations, conducted by
persons in authority and in an
atmosphere of discretion. There is
much more, but I think these are
the most indispensable precondit
ions.
“I have no illusions,” he
continued. “There are a lot of
fears, which can't be totally
dissipated, because there is the
unknown: what the negotiations
will finally bring. It is an anxiety-
producing* kind of environment.”
He said that his main objective
was to “persuade the Israelis that,
no matter what our differences, we
are their friend and there does exist
that special relationship between
us; that we have a profound
commitment to Israel's security
and long-term permanence.
“I believe I made some progress
in that regard,” he added,
characterizing the progress as
“psychological."
“I just had a feeling that there
was a somewhat greater
inclination toward trust when I left
Israel than when 1 arrived,” he
said. “I also appreciated the chance
to sit down and candidly hear how
Vice President Mondale at Western Wall: “I’d call it a worthwhile and successful trip because/ believe that it
strengthened trust. ”
we look to the Israelis. We need to
know.
“I don’t say we haven’t made
mistakes because we have. But I
hope my visit has clarified our
position. The thing to keep in mind
is that we are interested in making
progress —in helping, not
pressuring—towards peace. We’re
concerned with the process of
peace and not in shallow or
meaningless public posture."
If you were President of the
United States, I asked, what course
would you pursue in the Middle
East?
“I would do just about what we
are doing—encouraging talks
between the parties,” the Vice
President replied. “It is most
important that the talks continue,
and (hat’s what I’d work on—to
get on the peace track. I’d like
Egypt and Israel to think in
somewhat the same way they did
after President Sadat visited
Jerusalem last November. They
really ought to keep trying, to take
a chance again, to show a genuine
desire to move towards peace.
What they really need to do is to
start negotiations."
Walter Mondale also strongly
believes in quiet diplomacy. He
said that although he had “private,
thorough and candid" conversat
ions with the two leaders and their
government officials that the
content of those discussions must
remain private.
“Results should be announced,
subject to approval,” he said, “but
there has to be a time when
officials can talk in utter discretion
and privacy and feel free to discuss
all possibilities...”
Among the highlights of
Mondale’s jam-packed three days
in Israel was a visit to Beersheva
where he dedicated the Hubert H.
Humphrey Institute of Social
Ecology at the Ben Gurion
University.
“The Institute has special
meaning for me not only as a living
memorial to Hubert but also
because I’m interested in its
purpose—to help disadvantaged
children,” he said. “And it’s a
marvelous spot—right out in the
desert.”
The Vice President also singled
out his visit to Kibbutz Sde Boker
in the Negev, where Israel's first
Prime Minister David Ben Gurion
lived out his days. (Ben Gurion
died in 1973, the same year Walter
mondale made his first trip to
Israel.)
As he did in 1973, Mondale
made it a special point of visiting
Israel’s historic shrine, the Western
Wall. The son of a Methodist
minister, he told me that early in
life he studied the Bible, and also
learned about the Wall and about
Jerusalem. “The Wall has such
powerful profound symbolism to
Jew and non-Jew alike,” he
observed. “And more than that.
I’ve always been very close to the
Jewish people. I understand what
that Wall means to them, what
Jerusalem means to them, and
what Israel means to them.
Perhaps I cannot feel it the same
way But, it’s in that spirit that
visiting the Western Wall meant so
much to me.”
Vice President Mondale said he
was especially glad to see for
himself that Prime Minister Begin
appears to be in good health and
was his “usual articulate and very
lucid” self.
I suggested that charges still
persist that the Carter
Administration is covertly seeking
Begin's resignation. In reply to
these allegations, Mondale said:
“I think Mr. Begin knows that
we accept the judgment of a
democratic society. The Israelis
chose him as their leader. We
wouldn't want other countries to
interfere with our elected leaders,
and we wouldn't do it to others.
“Furthermore, we respect
Premier Begin and his leadership. I
found him to be a very able, strong
leader. I got to know him much
better during this visit and I believe
that he has peace at heart and
wants to lead his country
responsibly. We fully accept that.
Mondale added: “I appreciate
Mr. Begin's candidness. I hope he
learned a little more about us, and
that we both understand each
other a little better.”
The Vice President closed bur
interview by revealing a poignant
scene in Jerusalem which evidently
still moves him.
“I must tell you,” he concluded,
“that while we were convening in
Prime Minister Begin’s private
room, he showed me pictures of his
parents and of his wife’s parents.
All four were killed in
concentration camps. Surely, that
must affect the way he feels and the
way he thinks."
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