Jimmy Carter photo

Meeting With Prime Minister Begin of Israel White House Statement.

March 02, 1979

President Carter and Prime Minister Begin met for 2 1/2 hours this morning in the Cabinet Room, accompanied by their advisers.

Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State; Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Jody Powell, Press Secretary to the President; Alfred L. Atherton, Jr., Ambassador at Large; Samuel Lewis, U.S Ambassador to Israel: Harold H. Saunders, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs; Edward Sanders, Advisor to the Secretary of State; Herbert J. Hansell, Legal Advisor, Department of State; and William B. Quandt, Jr., National Security Council staff member, were present on the American side.

Ephraim Evron, Israeli Ambassador to the United States; Yehuda Blum, Ambassador to the United Nations; Meir Rosenne, Legal Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Yehuda Avner, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister; Yehiel Kadishat, Director of the Prime Minister's Bureau; Dan Patir, Official Spokesman; and Dr. Marum Gottesman, Prime Minister Begin's personal physician, were present on the Israeli side.

The meeting today was a serious, wide-ranging, and useful discussion of the situation in the region and the problems of building peace there. The talks included a detailed and comprehensive discussion of the unresolved issues in the implementation of the Camp David accords. The talks were conducted in an atmosphere of friendship and candor.

The two delegations will confer among themselves this afternoon following the working lunch which the Secretary of State is hosting at the State Department for the Prime Minister. At 7 p.m. today, the Prime Minister and Mrs. Begin have invited the President and Mrs. Carter for traditional Friday evening Sabbath dinner at the Blair House. The two leaders will be meeting again at the White House tomorrow evening.

Jimmy Carter, Meeting With Prime Minister Begin of Israel White House Statement. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/249068

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