RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.

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FOR

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

PROGRAM

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

JANUARY 18, 1978
6:30 PM

DATE

STATION

CITY

WRC-TV
NBC NETWORK

WASHINGTON, D.C.

BROADCAST EXCERPT

DAVID BRINKLEY: As Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger was, of course, deeply involved in negotiating in the Middle East; and tonight he is here with us.

Mr. Kissinger, what do you make of these developments today?

HENRY KISSINGER: I think it is important not to exaggerate the consequences. I think it's an unfortunate development. But I believe that when the nations that haven't had any contact for 30 years begin to negotiate with each other, that ups and downs are to be expected.

So I think the major problem now is to get the negotiating process started again.

BRINKLEY: Do you think that will be reasonably easy to do?

KISSINGER: I don't think it will be reasonably easy, but I think it will be possible. I think it's important that we do it with a little less publicity and that all the parties go back to some private talks and not stake their prestige on these words and phrases that will be significant only in terms of the content that will finally be achieved; and the content depends on exploring each other's minds, and for this they need private talks.

BRINKLEY: President Sadat seems to feel he has not been met halfway. What would be your assessment of that?

KISSINGER: Well, I think President Sadat is a very great man who has made a tremendous initiative. I think that the Israeli government has also made significant moves which, in the Israeli context, are very complicated and painful.

This is obviously not the end of the story. And the negotiations are necessary because the two sides have not yet met and have not yet agreed. And I would suppose both sides feel that they have not yet been fully met.

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I think President Sadat deserves tremendous credit for what he has done. And I believe that with our Secretary of State in the Middle East, and an able negotiator, that we can bring the parties together, provided we do not add to the general excitement by too much commentary of our own, and provided the parties are now prepared to go back to quiet talks.

BRINKLEY: What do you think about the American role in this?

KISSINGER: I think the United States is essential to bridge the differences between the two parties. But we have to guard against the danger that we get so involved in every detail that the parties stop negotiating and concentrate all their efforts on pressuring us to support one side or the other.

So, we should avoid being commentators, and reserve ourselves for those fundamental issues when they reach a real danger of an impasse. Without us there can be no settlement, but we have to pick the right middle line between being too intrusive and not doing enough.

BRINKLEY: President Sadat seems to have been offended by the speech by Premier Begin last night.

Did you read that speech? What do you think of it?

KISSINGER: I didn't read it; I saw excerpts of it on television.

I regretted what Prime Minister Begin said. But, again, it has to be seen in the context of the negotiations having gone public, with both sides having said things which have sort of challenged the other. And these issues are too complicated to be settled by television interviews, and they require that the two parties really understand each other.

The issue of peace is so important, and it's so vital to both sides that I'm convinced that if they talk quietly and if we play our role with understanding and compassion, a settlement is still possible, and it is very necessary.

BRINKLEY: Mr. Kissinger, thank you very much.