US commitment to ANY process

Submitted by Yossi Ben-Aharon (Israel), Jul 9, 2003 at 03:26

Prof. Pipes. As usual, your comments are incisive and to the point. You are trying to present a hopeful and optmistic picture of US attitudes toward the Road Map. But I suspect you are aware that the Administration will not hesitate to ride roughshod over opposition to the Map, even if the Palestinians continue to violate its terms. Example: I was involved in the US (Republican Admin.) successful attempt to override Israeli objections to maintaining the August 1970 ceasefire with Egypt, when it was plainly evident that the Egyptians, with massive Soviet support, were in flagrant violation of its terms. In reponse to our objections, the Nixon Admin said there was no "conclusive evidence" that the Egyptians were indeed moving their missile bases eastward to the Suez Canal. Israel succumbed to the US pressure, because the US was determined to maintain THE PROCESS at any (Israeli) price. And indeed, Isael finally paid a heavy price when the Egyptians opened their attack on Yom Kippur, Oct 1973.

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