Interview With the President Question-and-Answer Session With Adib Andrawes of Egyptian Television.

MR. ANDRAWES. Mr. President, you have committed the United States to be a full partner in the peace process until the Palestinian problem is settled, Which is the core of the Middle East conflict. Would you care, Mr. President, to tell us what are your immediate plans for the Palestinian people?

THE PRESIDENT. The immediate plans are specified in the Camp David agreements and also in the terms of the peace treaty. They involve, to use part of the language, the right of the Palestinians to have a voice in the determination of their own future and to recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. This is encompassed in the mutual agreement, signed by Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat, and myself: first of all—to use Prime Minister Begin's words—full autonomy for the Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza areas; secondly, the termination of the Israeli military government; third, the withdrawal of Israeli troops into specified security locations.

I think the success of this effort will depend to a substantial degree on the willingness of the Palestinians and others to participate in the negotiations themselves.

Obviously, President Sadat and I and Prime Minister Begin and our representatives can do a substantial amount for the Palestinians, even in their absence. But the full realization of their expectations under these terms would obviously be dependent on how willing they are to participate themselves.

MR. ANDRAWES. Mr. President, the Palestinian people feel they have been victims and evicted from their homes; the United States, as a super power, should take the lead in inviting them and asking them to come and talk with the administration on their needs and their problems and so on. Could this be envisaged in the very near future?

THE PRESIDENT. Yes. We would like to have direct relations with the Palestinians, and we will, as part of the negotiating process in the future. The Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank will be invited and encouraged to participate in these discussions, the mayors of the cities and other representatives to be chosen by the Palestinians themselves.

We have a problem with the PLO. The PLO has never yet been willing to accept the applicability of United Nations Resolution 242, the basis for the Camp David agreements and, I think, a document that's been adopted by all of the Arab nations as a foundation for future progress. The PLO has never been willing to accept this document. Also, the PLO has never recognized Israel's right to exist. And as soon as the PLO itself, as an organization, is willing to accept these bases, then we'll immediately start working directly with that organization as such.

But in the meantime, the Palestinians who reside in the West Bank, Gaza area, the Palestinians who reside in Egypt and Jordan, and even others who don't reside in either of these countries, if they're mutually acceptable, will participate in the negotiations.

MR. ANDRAWES. But wouldn't it be useful, Mr. President, if you, as a super power, took the first step and explained to the Palestinian people the necessity of accepting Resolution 242 and getting into the peace process? You have actually said before and invited them to participate in the process, even accepting 242 with reservations.

THE PRESIDENT. Yes, and I hope they will do that.

We have not only sent representatives to meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza areas—both from the administration, the State Department, and also, for instance, the majority leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate met with a representative group—but when I've met with President Asad of Syria and King Hussein of Jordan and with King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd in Saudi Arabia, I have encouraged them to do everything they could, possibly, to involve the Palestinians in the peace process.

As you know, there are threats made and there are demonstrations of terrorism which tend to prevent the Palestinians who want to have peace and who want to have full autonomy from participating in these processes. And I think the threats of terrorism and the hatred that presently exists, the threat of war, the threat of economic boycotts and punishment against Egypt, are certainly not conducive to realizing the hopes of the Palestinian people.

There is no leader in the Mideast who has done more to open up an opportunity for progress and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinians than President Sadat. If the other leaders in Jordan and Syria and Saudi Arabia would do half as much as President Sadat has done, then these hopes that have been described in the agreements reached could be realized very quickly.

MR. ANDRAWES. Mr. President, how do you see Prime Minister Begin's recent statements in the Knesset that Israel will not allow a Palestinian state or will not go back to the borders of '677 Are these useful at that time?

THE PRESIDENT. I don't want to characterize either the statements made by Prime Minister Begin nor Prime Minister Khalil, and so forth. You know, we're in the process now of completing the first step in a long process that will lead to a comprehensive peace. These treaties, which have now been concluded after laborious negotiation, will just be a cornerstone, as President Sadat and I have said, for that comprehensive peace that we desire.

We've specified a negotiating process. And the differences that presently exist between, say, Egypt and Israel on the definition of full autonomy are substantial, substantial differences. But they're not nearly as wide as the differences that existed before the Camp David agreements.

So, you know, it's inevitable that both nations, both negotiating parties, will express their own point of view in the strongest possible terms originally. But after a while, as they get to understand one another and see the mutual advantages of agreement, I hope and expect that both positions will be moderated to some degree and an agreement can be reached. And we'll add our good offices as a negotiating partner. But I can't approve specifically what one leader or another says at the beginning. We'll be there to try to help them reach agreement.

MR. ANDRAWES. Are you prepared, Mr. President, to invest as much time and labor as you have with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty on the second phase?

THE PRESIDENT. I would hope that my personal involvement would be much less and that the negotiating teams could make substantial progress.

MR. ANDRAWES. Do you think they can, without your personal intervention from time to time as you've-

THE PRESIDENT. I believe so, because the terms of the agreement and the ultimate goal of the agreement have now been spelled out between myself, Prime Minister Begin, and President Sadat. And this gives kind of a framework or a guideline for the negotiators in the future. We didn't have any such document, we didn't have any agreements to start with less than a year ago when we went to Camp David. And I think the results of what we've done now will make it much easier in the future for subordinates to negotiate than has been the case in the past.

MR. ANDRAWES. Are the talks going to be in Washington?

THE PRESIDENT. I would presume that the talks would be in the Middle East. I hope that 3 months from now, that Egypt will be the sovereign power over El Arish and will have control of this region. And it could be that that beautiful seacoast town, as a part of Egypt, with no Israeli occupying forces, somewhere like that might be a good place to negotiate.

I never had a chance to visit El Arish or Mount Sinai and so forth, but I've told President Sadat that when it's under Egyptian control, I'd like to come back sometime.

MR. ANDRAWES. Very good. Mr. President, you visited Egypt and you've seen the Egyptian people.

THE PRESIDENT. Yes.

MR. ANDRAWES. What impression did you leave with?

THE PRESIDENT. Perfect. I saw people who were friendly toward me, who supported their wonderful leader, President Sadat, and who demonstrated to the world that they genuinely want peace and an end to hatred and war and death and destruction; a people who want a better life in the future and who now have opened up an opportunity to benefit from a new relationship not only with Israel but with other nations in the world.

So, I could not have been more pleased or favorably impressed than I was in my visit to Egypt. It was a great visit.

MR. ANDRAWES. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

THE. PRESIDENT. Thank you.