Al2 Saturday. May I:0 1979 THE WASHINGTON POST Eilts Warns Huge Staff En

By Thomas W. Lippman Elits, 57, is a respected career diplo- The peace treaty has been attacked WasIthurton Post Foreign Berme mat noted for his devotion to hard as an American-inspired document , May 11—When Hermann F. work, attention to detail, crew cut and that undercuts Arab interests. Eilts Eilts arrived here to prepare for the indifference to sartorial _fashion. He said he was concerned that further resumption of diplomatic relations be- has always been reluctant to be inter- growth of the American presence and tween and the United States, viewed, but now that the Egyptian-Is- influence here could make matters the official American presence con- raeli peace treaty is in effect and he worse for both Egypt and the United sisted of six people working under the is moving on to a professorship at States. flag of Spain In an American "inter- Boston University, be agreed to dis- Eilts noted that the outcome of the 'eats section." cuss his views of Egypt, the Palestin- Palestinian autonomy negotiations "at Now Eilts is retiring after five dra- ian autonomy negotiations and Ameri. some point-is going to depend on us" inatic years as U.S. ambassador, and can policy in the region. because "I have difficulty believing the embassy has a staff of about 190. In a wide-ranging interview in his that the two parties themselves can ilt Is still growing. Eilts said today office, Eilts predicted that the forth- work out the kind of mutually accept- that is too many, and warned that coming negotiations over the future able arrangements that each re- .American interests in Egypt could be of the West Bank and Gaza Strip quires." 'jeopardized by the relentless expan- would be "tough" and would yield lit- What worries him, he said, is "the alon that has involved Americans in tle for many months. He acknowl- flush of unthinking enthusiasm that :Egypt's political, social, economic and edged that the United States had exists in some quarters in the wake of now military affairs. failed to persuade "our Arab friends" the peace process and the belief that "All of us remember ," he said, In other countries to support the simply by the visibility of the num- "and while this is nothing like Iran, it treaty. And he stressed his "worry" bers of people rather than the visibil- ;could get out of hand. It's a mistake." that the mushrooming American pres- ity of the actions themselves we can Ellis, who struggled in vain for five ence here could somehow backfire. handle the situation. years to hold down the size of his President , with whom "It's not the numbers themselves, staff--"I like to have a few people Elits has worked closely during a ten- it's producing on the basic issues of who will work overtime"—said he had ure in which the United States has re- West Bank and Gaza autonomy and -made this point with Washington and placed the Soviet Union as the domi- economic development; but I worry hoped his successor, Alfred Atherton, nant outside Influence on Egypt, is that everyone now wants to get into -would resist the desire of government frequently accused by other Arab the act even if his contribution is a 'agencies to send in "a lot of straphan- leaders of having become a tool of very marginal one and that can hurt gers.' American policy in the Middle East. us."

ni'MTMS:ssstst‘egsss dangers U.S. Interests in Egypt He did not specify which govern- ter and the other members of his ad- Elits said that while the United ment agencies he was talking about— ministration have said about the Pal- States has failed to block Jewish set- many of them, from the Air Force estinians is something we will do our to the Central Intelligence Agency to tlement in the West Bank, it is "unfair very best to achieve. Unless we are to criticize simply because we don't the Department of Argiculture are al- able to achieve it then I think these ready represented here—but he said take the kind of steps some of our strains could last along time?' Arab friends would Like, such as the "biggest vulnerability" was in the Ellis, a former ambassador to Saudi Agency for International Develop- cutting off economic or military aid. Arabia who has spent most of his ca- That simply is not feasible, nor even ment. Aid is administering the billion- reer in the Middle East, said he un- dollar-a-year assistance program and desirable." derstood Arab criticism that the In discussing his. apprehensions accounts for more than 100 of the 190 United States has not put into prac- officials assigned to the embassy. about the autonomy negotiations and Ellts acknowledged that "you can- tice its own declared policies on the Arab criticism of the treaty, Flits Palestinian question and the issue of spoke quietly and dispassionately, as not run a billion-dollar program with- Bank. out the people to monitor it very Jewish settlements in the West he always does. During his years in closely." Yet what is important now "Somehow," he said, "we haven't Cairo, he earned a reputation for un- for the United States, he said, is not done a good selling job in putting flappable self-control that served him to show the flag in Egypt but to de- across to our friends in the area that well through extraordinary events — vote its energies to helping Egypt and we really mean what we have said in the collapse of dlsenagaement negotia- make progress in the autonomy terms of doing something for the Pal- tions in March, 1975, the Sadat peace negotiations and restore good Ameri- estinians and bringing about a peace initiative, the Camp David summit. can relations with Arab critics of the in the area that is a just and durable He said he intends to recount all treaty. one for all parties. We will have to those events in a book that will cover Relations with formerly friendly demonstrate it by our role in the ne- the evolution of United States— Arab countries such as . Saudi gotiations." Egyptian relations during the years Arabia and Morocco, he said, are "not At the same time, however, he said since President Nixon came-here in good. They want good relations with that some Arab countries are adher- 1974, near the end of his presidency, us and we with them. But I believe ing to "mwdmalist." positions that to restore friendship between the two words will not be enough to allay have been fruitless for 30 years, with- countries. He hopes to include some their concern. I think we are going to out understanding the process Of ne- still-secret details of those events, he have to demonstrate at the upcoming gotiation. "It's easy for those in the said, because "otherwise it's not negotiations that what President Car- outer circle to kibitz," he said. worth writing."