Egyptian-Israeli Peace Negotiations White House Statement Following Meetings With the Israeli and Egyptian Delegations.

The meeting with the Israeli delegation, beginning at 2:10 p.m. in the Cabinet Room, lasted 1 hour. The President was accompanied by Vice President Mondale; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Alfred L. Atherton, Ambassador at Large; and William Quandt, National Security Council staff member. On the Israeli side were Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan; Meir Rosenne, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Defense Minister Ezer Weizman; Ely Akim Rubenstein, Assistant Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Simcha Dinitz, Israeli Ambassador to the United States.

The meeting with the Egyptian delegation, beginning at 4 p.m. in the Cabinet Room, lasted 1 hour. The President was accompanied by Vice President Mondale; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Alfred L. Atherton, Ambassador at Large; and William Quandt, National Security Council staff member. On the Egyptian side were Dr. Butrus Ghali, Acting Foreign Minister; Lt. Gen. Karnal Hassan Ali, Minister of Defense; Ashraf Ghorbal, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States; and Usama al-Baz, Under Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The President welcomed this opportunity to get a firsthand report from the heads of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations about the status of the talks in Washington. He reviewed with both delegations the progress made so far in the conference and the issues that remain to be resolved. The President and the Israeli and Egyptian delegates expressed their satisfaction with the progress so far. They reaffirmed their determination to continue that progress, so that the negotiations can be completed as soon as possible.