Dayan and Tuhami Engage in Secret Talks

September 16, 1977

Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan conducts secret talks with Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Tuhami in Morocco.  Tuhami (and other high ranking Egyptians) held talks with Israeli officials on at least three occasions in 1977 (with help from both Moroccan and Romanian intermediaries), which allowed the two sides to appraise each other’s intentions and willingness to seriously negotiate for a potential peace agreement.  The talks were brokered by Morocco’s King Hassan.  Dayan had been in Morocco just a few weeks earlier and asked for the King’s help in arranging a meeting with an Egyptian representative.

The United States knew that private talks were taking place but did not have the detail of what was exchanged. Dayan met with US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance shortly after the meeting with Tuhami but makes no mention of it to the Americans.  During the talks between Dayan and Tuhami, an understanding that a mutually satisfactory diplomatic agreement can be reached between Cairo and Jerusalem is crafted before Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977.

Photo: Moshe Dayan and Hassan Tuhami at Camp David in September 1978