32 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, May 4, 1984 BOOKS JO N Secret negotiations were tried after the 1967 Six-Day War HAMILTON PLACE for INITIATION Swim in our outdoor and indoor pools. Play Tennis, Jog, enjoy Free Aero- bics, exercise on Nautilus and Universal equipment, dine in our Restaurant or Lounge, you name it. It's all at Southfield's most luxurious Health ... and Social Club. All for just $75.0017 (*For a single mem- bership plus monthly dues, slightly higher for couples and family) Hurry now, and enjoy the summer. - ..... . HAMILTON PLACE Athletic & Social Club 303 3 3 Southfield Rd. (between 12 and 13 mile Rds.) CALL 646-8990 Hall Presented by Hall Real Estate Group AM. .................. 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.