The United States,the Arabs,and Israel: Peace Efforts of Kennedy,Johnson,and Nixon

Abstract

American evenhanded approaches toward a solu tion of the Arab-Israel conflict have been frustrated by the role of the Middle East in big power competition, domestic ethnic politics, and suspicions of both Arabs and Israelis. Not since the presidency of John Kennedy have both sides had confidence in the United States. Kennedy, like other Amer ican presidents, emphasized the Arab refugee problem, but his efforts to break the impasse also failed. Unable to prevent outbreak of the June 1967 war, President Lyndon Johnson sought to avoid a superpower confrontation and opened direct negotiations with Russia to find a peaceful settlement. The two powers co-operated in the United Nations, especially in the Security Council during 1967. The Council's resolution 242 became the basis of American policy, but efforts to imple ment it have been undermined by the continued arms race in the area, by Israel's reluctance to withdraw from Arab occu pied territory because of fear that its security will be jeopar dized, and by Arab reluctance to deal with Israel. The Nixon administration has continued attempts to resolve the dispute along lines similar to those of Johnson, but its piecemeal efforts to break the impasse have so far been no more successful.