Transcripts, Interviews and Conference Proceedings on Arab-Israeli Negotiations of the 1970s

The Wilson Center, “Camp David 25th Anniversary Forum,” Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC

July 26, 2023

Recounting events at the Egyptian-Israeli-American negotiations, a dozen (American, Israeli, and Egyptian participants recollected those thirteen days of negotiations. Negotiators from both sides agreed that they pursued success through ‘constructive ambiguity’ some at high levels so the respective sides could agree, for example in using the term ‘modalities’ to describe a future element that could not be defined in a more tangible way. President Carter and Israel’s Attorney General at the time of Camp David disagreed at the conference with what Prime Minister Begin promised on the duration of a settlement moratorium. (p34). William Quandt the NSC official acknowledged that there was no written record of a a Begin promise for three months; Carter claimed the promise was in his diary notes, but others who saw Carter’s diary said no such promise was made or was in Carter’s notes.

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