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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Israel: Israel US tensions nothing new

Haaretz

Back to the future: New released documents show Israel, U.S. tensions, circa 1975

The U.S. administration is tired of Israel's intransigence, warmongering and attempts to interfere in its domestic politics. Welcome to the 1970s.

By Amir Oren

In March 1975, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was shuttling between Jerusalem and Cairo in an effort to reach a second interim Sinai agreement between Israel and Egypt. The Israeli negotiating team included then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Defense Minister Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, and IDF Chief of Staff Mordechai (Motta) Gur. 

The major obstacle was Israel's refusal to withdraw the Israel Defense Forces to the eastern approaches of the Mitla and Gidi passes. Kissinger was angry at the Israelis for their weakness, their scant political experience and their internal squabbles. He later vented his frustrations to President Gerald Ford. The Israelis were "treacherous, petty, deceitful - they didn't treat us like allies," and they deceived him into thinking that there was sufficient reason for him to come to the region. But now, at a meeting with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in Aswan, after Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmi and Defense Minister Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy had left the room, Kissinger surprised Sadat by handing him a personal letter from Rabin. 

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