"A Conversation With the President"
(January 4, 1971)
THE MIDDLE EAST
MR. SEVAREID. Mr. President, we have no formal alliance
with the State of Israel. But isn't it really a fact that we are now
so deeply committed morally to the Israelis that if they were in unmistakable
danger of defeat wouldn't we have to intervene?
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Sevareid, to speculate on that question
would not really be in the interests of peace in that area, as I see
them at this point. Let's look how far we have come. We have had a cease-fire
for 5 months, no killing, and for 3 or 4 years before that there were
killings every day in that part of the world.
Second, as you know, the Israelis have gone back to
the Jarring talks, and also the other side will be there. That doesn't
mean that the prospect for an early agreement is very great. It does
mean, however, that there is some chance that there will be discussion.
And, third, it seems to me that we must take into account
the fact that the people in that part of the world, the people of Israel,
the people in the countries that are Israel's neighbors, that they are
overwhelmingly on the side of peace--they want peace. Their leaders
are going to have to reflect it.
I think that we are at a critical time in the Mideast,
a critical time over the next few months when we may get these talks
off dead center, make some progress toward a live-and-let-live attitude.
Not progress that is going to bring a situation where the Israelis and
their neighbors are going to like each other. That isn't ever going
to happen, perhaps. But where they will live with each other, where
they won't be fighting each other.
Now, to speculate about what is going to happen in
the event that Israel is going to go down the tube would only tend to
inflame the situation with Israel's neighbors. And I won't do it.
MR. SEVAREID. Would it, Mr. President, calm the situation
and help the prospects for peace if we did have some formal alliance
with the State of Israel?
THE PRESIDENT. No, I don't believe so, because I think
that what we are doing for Israel is so well known to them, and also
incidentally it is quite well known to their neighbors, that it provides
the balance that is needed.
We just provided a $500 million aid program for Israel.
I say "aid"--they are going to be able to purchase weapons
to that extent. We have made it clear time and again that we would help
to maintain the balance of power in the area so that Israel would not
be in a position that its neighbors could overwhelm them with their
superior manpower or with the forces that they got from the Soviet Union.
But I do not believe that a formal alliance would be--is either necessary
or would be in the interest of peace in the area.
MR. SMITH. The kind of thing that bothers me is the
tendency towards adventurism in that part of the world by the Russians.
They are manning the SAM sites, and last summer it wasn't widely publicized,
but eight Israeli jets were on patrol, they ran into eight Egyptian
MIG's, there was a fight and over the radio they heard they weren't
Egyptians, they were Russian-piloted MIG's. The score was four Russians
shot down.
But how frightfully dangerous that is. If the Russians
had been tempted to retaliate, then it could have become terribly complicated.
THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Smith, you will remember in the
last 5 minutes of our conversation a year ago--we didn't get to the
Mideast till the last 5 minutes--but I mentioned this very point, that
the key to peace in the Mideast is held by several people: first, the
parties involved, the Israelis and their neighbors, primarily the U.A.R.
and Jordan; but second, the key to peace is in 'the hands of the Soviet
Union, the United States, Great Britain, France--the four major powers.
If the Soviet Union does not play a conciliatory peacemaking
role, there is no chance for peace in the Mideast. Because if the Soviet
Union continues to fuel the war arsenals of Israel's neighbors, Israel
will have no choice but to come to the United States for us to maintain
the balance to which Mr. Sevareid referred. And we will maintain that
balance.
That is why it is important at this time that the Soviet
Union and the United States as well as Britain and France all join together
in a process of not having additional arms and additional activities
go into that area, because that will only mean that it produces the
possibility of a future confrontation.
This is the time to talk. Let me say one other thing
with regard to the talk. I would hesitate to give advice to other nations
as they enter such delicate talks, but I am sure of this: These talks
will have no chance for success if they are done in a public forum.
It is very important that it be done quietly, because every time an
offer is made or a suggestion is made, it is talked about in the parliaments
of one country or another, on the radio--you can forget it. So if these
talks can be quietly conducted, there is a chance for success, and in
the end we want to remember that the United States, the Soviet Union,
Great Britain, and France must all be, and I think will be, in a position
to guarantee whatever settlement is made through the United Nations.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |