32
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, May 4, 1984
BOOKS
JO N
Secret negotiations were tried
after the 1967 Six-Day War
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Mounting revelations
about secret agreements af-
fecting the Middle East in-
clude the claim advanced by
Donald Neff, in Warriors for
Jerusalem (Linden Press)
that a pact was planned be-
tween King Hussein of Jor-
dan and the Israeli govern-
ment.
Neff contends in his book
that the alleged "secret
agreement" was written on
Waldorf Astoria stationery
after the 1967 Israeli
triumph in the Six-Day
War.
While this alleged
agreement has disappeared
Neff contends that its
reality was confirmed by
King Hussein and in a
secret State Department
document, possession of
which is claimed by the
author of Warriors for
Jerusalem, which is subti-
tled "The six days that
changed the Middle East."
Neff asserts that Israel
denies the existence of his
revealed secret document,
adding that every President
including Ronald Reagan
reaffirmed the contents of
the document, but there
never was a move to enforce
it.
UN Resolution 242 was
the motivation for that
agreement, Neff writes,
contends that "if both sides
stuck by their pledge, ac-
cording to Arthur Goldberg
(who then headed the U.S.
delegation to the UN), then
there finally seemed a
chance that some time in
the future, peace could be
achieved in the Middle
East."
Neff enters into extensive
discussion of events that fol-
lowed, the tragedies that
were experienced in the
area.
Major events which make
"a doleful litany" are re-
viewed by Neff. All the
traumatic occurrences are
reviewed.
Recording how, as he
claims, the secret agree-
ment was reached, Neff
states that according to
King Hussein, U.S officials
advocated withdrawal by
Israel to pre-war borders,
adjusting only the "minor
reciprocal border rectifica-
tions." As Neff reports:
"When Hussein asked
Goldberg whether Israel
agreed with the U.S. posi-
tion, Goldberg assured him
they did ... The next day
. . . Goldberg reported to
(Abba) Eban (Israel's repre-
sentative) that Hussein had
met with Arab delegations
and said that he was 'satis-
fied with the assurances
given to him in Washing-
ton.'
"According to King Hus-
sein, there was no doubt
that Eban had agreed to the
U.S. addurances because
they had been written down
by the U.S. official who had
been dealing with him in
the secret meeting at the
Waldorf — and shown to
him. When Hussein person-
ally asked Goldberg
whether Israel accepted
the terms, Goldberg's
words, according to the
King, were 'Don't worry.
They're on board.' "
There is much in the Neff
report about President
Lyndon- Johnson's friendly
attitude toward Israel and
other related events.
Perhaps the most impor-
tant facts emphasizing the
"secret agreement" are
stated especially in the fol-
lowing exerpts from this
book:
"In a series of exhaustive
secret meetings at the
Waldorf-Astoria Towers in
New York, where Eban,
Hussein, Riad and Goldberg
were all staying, the United
States was laboriously
working behind the scenes
trying to forge an agree-
ment that would be accept-
able by both the Arabs and
Israel.
"The bargaining was in-
tense and, as with almost
everything else connected
with the Middle East, com-
plex and unorthodox. The
Arabs did not trust
Goldberg, or particularly
like him either, because
they felt he was abrasive,
arrogant and condescend-
ing. So while he dealt per-
sonally with the Israeli
delegation, another U.S. of-
ficial carried on talks with
they Arabs. Thus Goldberg
would talk with the Israelis,
then report what they had
to say to the official and he
in turn would go to Hus-
sein's suite and relay the Is-
raeli position. The process
was then reversed. The offi-
cial would tell Goldberg
about Hussein's reactions
and Goldberg would com-
municate them to the Is-
raelis.
"At the start of this awk-
ward process, despite the
coolness in their relations,
Goldberg had personally
met with Hussein the day
after his arrival in New
York to outline the U.S.
position. According to the
State Department study,
"Goldberg told the King
that the United States did
not visualize a Jordan
limited to the East Bank;
that the United States was
prepared to help obtain an
appropriate Jordanian role
in Jerusalem; and that the
U.S. purpose was to create a
context of peace in which Is-
raeli withdrawal would
take place and Jordanian
territorial integrity and
political independence
would be protected."
"Goldberg, according to
the study, warned Hussein
that the United States
`could not guarantee that
r a
91.
1r,
1
.
everything would be re-
turned to Jordan; some ter-
ritorial adjustments would
be required. There must be
a withdrawal to recognized
and secure frontiers for all
countries which were not
the old armistice line
Goldberg also noted the.
there must be a mutuality
in adjustments.'
"By way of illustration —
and indicative of how minor
U.S. officials assumed the
eventual changes would be
— Goldberg said that if Jor-
dan made an adjustment of
the Latrun salient, that an-
noying bulge between
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,
then 'there ought to be some
compensatory adjustment
for it.' .. .
"Thus by the first week of
November the U.S. position
was established — and
made clear to the Arab
states. It would support ad-
justments to the armistice
lines, but still it was as-
sumed that they would
entail only minor bits of
land and that Israel's with-
drawal would be nearly
complete in return for peace
. . .
"By way of example, Rusk
told Johnson — as he and
Goldberg had earlier told
Hussein — that if Jordan
gave up the Latrun salient
`the United States would
then use its diplomatic and
political influence to obtain
in compensation access for
Jordan to a Mediterranean
port in Israel.'
In addition to all this, the
secret study reports, 'Rusk
also repeated to the
President the assurances
given to Hussein concern-
ing Jerusalem and concern-
ing United States efforts to
obtain for Jordan the best
possible deal.'
"The United States did
not make its assurances
public, but they were con-
veyed privately to Great
Britain and several Arab
states. Goldberg personally
met on Nov. 15 with repre-
sentatives from Iraq, Leba-
non and Morocco and as-
sured them, according to the
study, 'that the United
States did not conceive of
any substantial redrawing
of the map. Goldberg em-
phasized the importance of
this statement to the Arab
diplomats and the fact th
it had previously been mai.
known to the parties.'
"While these negotiations
went on secretly, public at-
tention was focused on the
maneuvering in the Secret
Council."
In Warriors for Jerusalem
there are historical addenda
which give the volume extra
importance as a documen-
tary of Israel's struggles for
self-defense and the con-
tinuation of the nation's
principles.
,—P.S.