U.N. Disengagement of Forces Agreement, 1974
On Golan Heights, Israel agrees to limited withdrawal; UN places forces between Syrian and Israeli armies. With few exceptions this border remains almost totally quiet for more than forty years.
In Damascus in December 1973, Kissinger Rebuffed by Assad: “Mr. Secretary, Is It My Turn to Speak?”
Henry Kissinger and and Hafez al-Assad meet in Damascus in December 1973 (credit: Agence France-Presse stringer, released by Getty in January 1974). By Ken Stein Sandwiched between the end of the 1973 October Middle East…
Memorandum of Conversation Between Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, December 1973
U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger failed to persuade Syrian President Assad to attend the December 1973 Geneva Middle East Peace Conference. Assad saw the proposed conference, which it was, a ruse to cover up a “pre-cooked” Israeli-Egyptian arrangement. Assad wanted no part of implicitly supporting any agreement where Israel’s legitimacy might be enhanced.
The 1973 October War — A Short History
Egyptian President Sadat colluded with Syrian President Assad to attack Israel on October 6, 1973. Sadat’s objective was not to seek Israel’s destruction but to gain a limited success by crossing the canal. He also sought to engage American diplomacy to generate talks with Israel that would see Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian land Israel secured in the June 1967 War. Sadat took a large gamble by attacking Israel yet he unfolded a negotiating process with Israel that lasted through 1979. He achieved his overarching long-term priority of having Egyptian Sinai returned to Egyptian sovereignty.
Israeli Government-Designed Peace Plan After June 1967 War
Following the conclusion of the June 1967 War, the Israeli government sent word to Egypt and Syria seeking peace plan that was intended to jumpstart a peace process with Israel’s belligerent neighbors, Egypt and Syria. The messages were sent through the US, but no response was apparently received.
Abba Eban Speech at U.N. Special Assembly, June 1967
Following the conclusion of the June 1967 War, the Israeli government sent word to Egypt and Syria seeking peace plan that was intended to jumpstart a peace process with Israel’s belligerent neighbors, Egypt and Syria. The messages were sent through the US, but no response was apparently received.
Prime Minister Eshkol Statement to Knesset at Conclusion of June 1967 War
Two days after the conclusion of the June 1967 War, Eshkol, recounts the series of events that led to war, the war itself and the immediate aftermath. He reaches out to Arab states for peace seeking a path to peace with her belligerent neighbors. A week later, Israel will quietly messages Cairo and Damascus through the US, hat Israel seeks an end to the conflict. No answers are received.
Israel Expands Second Lebanon War
August 9, 2006 Israel’s Security Cabinet approves an expansion of the military offensive in southern Lebanon nearly a month after the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War. Also known as the Israel-Hezbollah War, the conflict…
106 Lebanese Civilians Killed at Qana
April 18, 1996 Israeli artillery fire strikes a U.N. compound where at least 800 Lebanese civilians are sheltering in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon. At least 13 shells hit the compound, killing 106…
TWA Flight 847 Hijacked
June 14, 1985 Two Lebanese Shiite terrorists armed with grenades and handguns hijack TWA Flight 847, a 727 traveling from Cairo to San Diego with scheduled stops in Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles, shortly…
Abu Musa Declares a Palestinian Revolt Against Arafat
Palestinian militant factions unsuccessfully challenge Arafat’s control during the First Lebanon War.
76 U.S. Senators Urge President Ford to Stand With Israel
After a breakdown in diplomatic talks between Gerald Ford and PM Yitzhak Rabin, seventy-six Senators sign a letter to the President stressing the importance of both military and economic assistance to Israel.
Kissinger Delivers List of Syria’s Israeli POWs
February 27, 1974 U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger arrives in Tel Aviv from Damascus with a list of 65 Israeli prisoners held by Syria since the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, along with…
12 Killed in School Bus Ambush
May 22, 1970 Palestinian terrorists ambush an Egged school bus on the road from Moshav Avivim, near the Lebanese border, to Dovev and kill eight children and four adults. The ambush takes place at a…
Fourth Arab League Summit Convenes
The Fourth Arab League Summit convenes in Khartoum, Sudan. Participants agree that all measures should be taken to regain lands controlled by Israel after the War, and that the oil-rich countries would finance an increased Arab military presence in the region.
Syria, Egypt Sign Defense Treaty
November 4, 1966 Egypt and Syria sign a mutual defense treaty and create a joint military command. The move comes amid constant low-level violence on the Israeli-Syrian border, characterized by Syrian guerrilla raids and shelling…
Army Officers Seize Power in Syria
February 23, 1966 Saleh Jadid launches a coup of young army officers against a Syrian government of old-guard members of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party who themselves seized power in a coup in 1963. The…
Spy Eli Cohen Executed
May 18, 1965 Eli Cohen is hanged in Marjeh Square in Damascus after being convicted of spying for Israel and being sentenced to death March 31, 1965. Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1924…
Israel Begins Jordan River Project
September 2, 1953 Israel starts work on a project to divert some of the water of the Jordan River at the B’not Yaakov (Daughters of Jacob) Bridge in the north of the state for use…
Dulles Travels to Middle East
May 11, 1953 U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles arrives in Cairo at the start of a 2½-week fact-finding trip to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Libya. Dulles emphasizes…
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