JERUSALEM -- Israel's Cabinet Sunday approved the participation of four European countries in the Sinai peace-keeping force, largely because of a letter Secretary of State Alexander Haig gave the Israelis last week.
Cabinet Secretary Arye Naor said in answer to reporters' questions that Haig's letter reassured the Cabinet that members of the force, which will patrol the Sinai desert after Israel's April 25 withdrawal, will participate only on the basis of the Camp David accords, the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, and related documents.
Now that Britain, France, Italy, and Holland have formally been approved, Naor said Israel had 'grounds to hope' that New Zealand and Australia would also join the force.
The participation of the six would bring the number of countries in the force to 11. Fiji, Colombia, Uruguay, Norway and the United States have already joined. The United States will contribute up to half of the force's 2,500 troops.
Israel had threatened to veto participation of the four European nations because they had initially linked their joining to the European Economic Community's Venice Resolution, which called for Palestinian self-determination.
About three weeks ago, ambassadors of the four European countries gave Israel copies of letters sent to Washington which they said made clear they were joining the force on the basis of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty -- 'no more, and no less.'
But because even this latest letter made reference to earlier communications that mentioned the Venice Resolution, Israel held up approval pending further clarifications, which it received from Haig during his visit last week.
