RADIO TV REPORTS, INC.

41 EAST 42ND STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017, 697-5100

FOR

NBC

REF1735

PROGRAM

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

STATION

WNBC-TV & NBC
TELEVISION NETWORK

DATE

NOVEMBER 20, 1977

6:45 P.M. CITY

NEW YORK

BROADCAST EXCERPT

DAVID BRINKLEY: Henry Kissinger, as Secretary of State, has spent more time traveling in and negotiating in the Middle East than anyone else. And he has been watching with greatest interest what's happening today and has discussed these events with Edwin Newman.

DR. HENRY KISSINGER: The best result would be one in which Israelis and Egyptians feel tomorrow evening, or whenever this conference ends, that they both have taken a step in their interest, in their own interests, with no winners and no losers, towards a future radically different than from the past. I have negotiated with Sadat and I know he did not take this step unless he was prepared to take this attitude. I have seen the anguish of the Israelis through crises and wars. And at the end of the day I know that they will not want to go back to this ghetto existence. So, despite what we heard, I am -- I believe that there are some historical opportunities so great that they must not be missed.

EDWIN NEWMAN: Must it at least have to take some concrete form, however, for Sadat to take back to Cairo with him?

DR. KISSINGER: Sadat must know when he goes back to Cairo what he can expect.

NEWMAN: And must be able to tell the Egyptian people.

DR. KISSINGER: Well, on this I would ask his judgment. He must be able to tell the Egyptian people that he has reason for optimism, even if it cannot be worked out immediately. After all, in 24 hours it isn't easy to work it out. Now, what form this takes, I think we should be flexible about. And that is up to the parties concerned.

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[2]

NEWMAN: What should the United States be doing in all of this, Dr. Kissinger?

DR. KISSINGER: I think the United States should not substitute its own judgment as to the best settlement for that of the parties concerned, when for the first time in thirty years the parties are talking directly. Whether this is approached in stages or in an overall settlement, who moved first, which particular conference negotiated this, we should now wait to see what the judgment of Sadat and the Israel Cabinet is, assuming they come to an agreement. And whatever it is, we should then create the diplomatic framework to help -- to help bring it about, and not argue with the outcome.

NEWMAN: Mr. Carter said today that it was possible that peace had not been achieved earlier, or so far, in the Middle East, because the leaders there and in the United States have not been, as he put it, aggressive enough in their diplomacy and had lagged behind the yearnings of the common people.

DR. KISSINGER: Well, I think the record of what has been done in the past, in terms of investment of effort and dedication, is well known. I think the American people should -- should not engage in essentially political debates about who deserves the credit. If there is peace in the Middle East, it will be to the benefit of all Americans. And I don't think that the President would want to, on further consideration, pursue this debate.

NEWMAN: What is it about Sadat, Dr. Kissinger, what is it in his personality that would dispose him to do the kind of thing today, stand up in front of the Israeli Parliament and say, in effect, God sent me here, God has charged me with making peace?

DR. KISSINGER: Well, I have to say that I did not understand Sadat himself. When he first came to power, until the 1973 War, I did not take him for a great figure. I began to pay great attention to him when during the war, which he had started, he nevertheless always kept in mind the necessities of peace. I believe here is a man who has seen the suffering of his people. I have eaten many meals with him and his family, and I know what he has suffered as a result of seeing casualties and destruction and poverty. And he wants to leave his office having made a breakthrough towards a world in which there is not a war every few years and in which the economic level can be raised. And he has the tremendous courage to -- to face the fundamentals.

NEWMAN: Thank you, Dr. Kissinger.