A Talk with Yitzhak Rabin
KAPLAN, JOAN PETERS
'THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIMITATIONS...' A Talk with Yitzhak Rabin BY JOAN PETERS KAPLAN Yitzhak Rabin was Israel's chief of staff during the Six Day War of 1967, ami his country's ambassador to...
...Kaplan: Weren't the military appointments made on a political basis, at least more so than was typical prior to the last few years...
...Kaplan: How would you describe the mood in Israel today...
...I don't believe there are words enough to describe it...
...They can attack, no question, but I think we are still in a good defensive position...
...Kaplan: Wasn't the world's acceptance of the Arab position based largely on its need for oil...
...To encourage people to go to Eilat, for example, we now offer such incentives as reduced income tax...
...Rabin: Because I am not sure that two days more or less . . . Kaplan: Look what you did in six days...
...Rabin: You can say a threat or you can say a reality, it doesn't matter...
...Kaplan: How...
...Rabin: The question is, what would have happened if the Russians had sent in forces...
...The Canal crossing was built on the assumption that we would cross it much, much quicker than we did...
...We are a country in the process of being built...
...I wouldn't attempt to explain the reasons...
...Even though there may be better deals, what we have puts Egypt out of the war for the time being...
...Rabin: No, that is not so...
...I think it has been said that this was not a general's war but a private's—those who fought at the beginning against great odds and by their determination prevented a catastrophe...
...We'll get rid of this issue—how, I don't know...
...Because there would have to be a build-up, there would be better signs—if we are not blind...
...The tendency was not to take too many risks...
...Therefore, the only option really left open was a separation of forces...
...We were caught by surprise...
...In Germany, the Allies went on fighting until they crushed Hitler and could impose their political goal, insure their political existence...
...It took, I believe, about 48 hours more than we expected...
...But I think Sadat will try to do something, I am not saying what, to bring about the separation of forces between Israel and Syria...
...Rabin: Iraq is the only country that can really help Syria...
...What can the Libyans do—shout...
...As for the argument about whether we could really cross —we are talking about crossing the Canal with hundreds of tanks, about having a solid line of communications, about thousands of tons of ammunition, fuel and spare parts...
...That wouldn't work if the bulk of the representatives came from the populated area of Tel Aviv...
...Kaplan: Could you not have had the same fully mobilized force 24 hours before, so that . . . Rabin: Well, that is something everybody here says...
...They realize the Yom Kippur War was, in a way, the unfinished war...
...That had to be done on the 6th of October, and we did not have sufficient land forces...
...Rabin: For defensive purposes, the best line is the Canal zone...
...It might be said we are too sensitive about losses, but this time we experienced something new—a large number of men missing in action...
...I see changes in the political system as the key to every change that is required in other fields...
...Kaplan: Was King Hussein predisposed to attack...
...Under the circumstances that existed, militarily, morally, the decision to do everything to avoid war was right...
...I think the current ratio of tanks— the U.S...
...He needs Syria to join because I doubt that he feels he can go to the next phase, to the political negotiations, before it does...
...Kaplan: What was the limit last October...
...I would not exclude their going to war, but I think they will rely on putting political pressure on Israel...
...Do you think he is less Arabic in his ambition to participate in the destruction of Israel...
...Kaplan: Many Israelis believe Jerusalem should have insisted on certain conditions before it agreed to the Sinai separation of forces and the Suez withdrawal, such as Arab-Israeli diplomatic relations, or at least a formal recognition of Israel's existence...
...The fact that there was no third front was, in my opinion, the greatest overall accomplishment in the conduct of the war...
...Kaplan: Then you are willing to concede some territory to Syria unilaterally, just to demilitarize...
...Every citizen with the right to vote would cast two votes: one for a candidate in his district, one for a national list...
...It might be that under certain conditions—let's say, unless he gets 75 per cent support in his central party—he should not be allowed to continue...
...I've been told that it needs overhauling, that the spirit of the soldiers is down, that the efficiency level has slumped...
...As for civilians, I couldn't care less if villagers came back, but the demilitarized area would be under the supervision of the UN...
...support of Israel...
...I don't want to blame one general or another general...
...Rabin: Yes, but after the attack...
...When I say alone I don't mean completely alone, but we might have been left to face another very costly round, again without being allowed to achieve anything...
...Kaplan: To turn to another subject, why is there suddenly so much concern about the old question of "Who is a Jew...
...Second, we suffered heavy casualties—for whatever reasons, I am not going to argue about it...
...The question was, to attack before they attack or after...
...Now Jordan had 500 tanks, good ones, and in the shortest distance from our populated areas...
...Kaplan: What about the politici-zation of the Army that appears to concern many Israelis...
...Rabin: I believe we should say we are willing to give up part of the area that was taken in the Yom Kippur War, and have the rest a no-man's land, controlled by the UN, which would start from the line that existed prior to October 6. All the land that was taken in '67 should be ours...
...When I say surprise attack I don't mean strategically...
...As a matter of fact, the Iraqis have helped make the Syrians more inflexible...
...It doesn't matter why...
...Kaplan: I thought Jerusalem knew 24-48 hours before...
...That doesn't mean we cannot return to ourselves...
...Also, we want a separation of forces because otherwise, what will happen...
...But I am sure that after what we have experienced, we will not be blind anymore...
...Leaving aside who violated the cease-fire, the issue was: Who was gaining during the continued fighting...
...to compensate for what was lost...
...I think the fact that this has been brought up now is a sign either of lack of understanding of where we live, or lack of seriousness...
...But any attempt to say this was the kind of round we have had before in the Arab-Israeli struggle that has lasted for over 25 years wouldn't be the whole truth...
...the bulk of the land forces had to be mobilized from the reserves...
...Without achieving decisive results there we might have tempted the Iraqis and the Jordanians to enter the war, not in Syria, but where we were much more vulnerable, along the Jordanian line, creating a third front...
...Rabin: No one argues that the decision to go or not to go to preemptive war was made because of political considerations of the kind you mention...
...Believe me this is true...
...Rabin: One can reduce the situation to an absurdity and say that, well, since the Russians might intervene, you have no chance anymore...
...This interview, conducted in Tel Aviv by Joan Peters Kaplan, a free-lance writer specializing in the Mideast, took place shortly before Rabin was selected by the Labor party as its candidate to succeed Prime Minister Golda Meir, who last month announced her retirement...
...Rabin: The separation-of-forces plan makes it more difficult to start a surprise attack...
...Kaplan: What, in your opinion, were the specific reasons for the post-Yom Kippur trauma...
...You have to measure exactly under what circumstances the Russians would feel free to send forces...
...Rabin: I believe that after the 22nd of October they might have felt free had the war continued, because on the 21st the U.S...
...Kaplan: Why has it been allowed to reach this point...
...Rabin: I would say that the major problem is still a combination of foreign and domestic issues: How to take what has been given to us by the separation of forces and really bring in a new kind of attitude— and organize ourselves in a way that allows us to become stronger and stronger...
...put its forces on alert, and on the other warned Israel it might be alone if the war did not end...
...Europe, Asia, Africa—all accepted the Arab position: total Israeli withdrawal, recognition of the "legitimate rights of the Palestinians"—practically the dismemberment of Israel as a Jewish independent state...
...It gives us time to get a lot of arms from the U.S...
...That is not the case, not the case at all...
...Each of their armored divisions lost almost half of its total number of tanks...
...First, because I don't like the Soviets as an enemy, and second, because I simply don't like them...
...What I want to say is that the separation of forces reduces—it does not prevent, by any means— the possibility of a surprise attack...
...Unfortunately, this is impossible under our own circumstances...
...Once something of this kind happened, I think we would have to face the Russians alone...
...Under the plan, Egypt's missiles are no longer threatening our forces...
...We cannot be fooled, we must protect our client...
...It was not by any decision from higher authorities but from deep conviction, despite one brigade practically smashed, that they stopped them...
...They can't help the Syrians...
...Kaplan: If Syria remains implacable, can you see Israel remaining at the present lines indefinitely...
...He flew back and went to the Chief of Staff, and when he was not satisfied with the Chief of Staff, he went to Ben-Gurion...
...on the second level, the global...
...But I think that when it comes to the appointive top echelon, decisions understandably will be guided by a desire to have people who are not only among the best but who will also be compatible with the political leaders...
...Rabin: I can't understand the reason...
...Rabin: Those who were elected, who are politicians, they have the right to decide and to guide the national security policy...
...Kaplan: Under what circumstances would the Russians feel free...
...We were in a situation, rightly or wrongly, where we might have been left alone...
...But I would say that the fighting capability demonstrated by the average Israeli was remarkable...
...I decided to go into politics because it is through the political process that you make the major decisions in any democracy, and Israel, after all, is a democracy...
...it is irrelevant...
...you know how much hinges on one day...
...Rabin: I was brought up mainly in Mapai [the dominant moderate Socialists...
...In the Golan Heights there would be no change in the line...
...Rabin: I don't know...
...He commanded a division...
...Kaplan: In view of the continuous battling with Syrian forces, how do you see Syria coming around to terms, disengagement or otherwise...
...Why not have all Knesset members elected directly from individual districts...
...Kaplan: I've been told it was inexcusable to have wasted time...
...Kaplan: What are those limitations...
...When they moved we destroyed 250-300 tanks, and we lost 30...
...I believe that we can still achieve what we want to achieve, if we remember that we are in a conflict that has two levels...
...Rabin: Let's put it this way, to show that we are peaceniks...
...Third, I believe we should bring about some sort of a rotation in the executive branch...
...In the North the fighting was closer, and the outcome of the war there would have influenced King Hussein...
...First, we should have interim municipal elections to elect mayors, for instance...
...and other countries, if there is no movement toward a political settlement, that we have tried...
...Rabin: By the end of the October War the whole world, except for the U.S., had combined to impose the Arab terms for settlement on Israel...
...For instance, no minister should serve with the same portfolio for more than two terms...
...On the third day another division, led by Major General Israel Tal, started [a counteroffensive...
...here, again, we have the same problem of coalitions and all the buying, selling and ugliness that goes with that...
...THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIMITATIONS...' A Talk with Yitzhak Rabin BY JOAN PETERS KAPLAN Yitzhak Rabin was Israel's chief of staff during the Six Day War of 1967, ami his country's ambassador to the United States from 1968-73...
...For the time being I am not talking about the Prime Minister...
...Kaplan: Could you see Israel giving up part of the Golan Heights...
...These expectations may have been perfectly natural in the light of the great victory of 1967, but they were far beyond any realistic estimate...
...Without any decisive results on the Syrian line we wouldn't have neutralized Jordan...
...It had nothing to do with politics...
...But once there was a major power agreement accepted by the parties to the conflict and, let's say, as a result of a violation Israel won —then I believe we would have faced a risk of Russian intervention that the U.S...
...This time he decided to be cleverer than in '67 and to wait to see what would happen...
...We are only talking about a separation of forces, about demilitarizing this area...
...Kaplan: Is the Israeli Army as good as it was...
...Kaplan: Which group in the Labor Alignment are you associated with...
...Kaplan: What exactly are your own circumstances...
...Rabin: By no means...
...Why did he build such a huge force...
...Kaplan: Are you willing to make the same kind of concessions to Syria that were made to Egypt...
...Rabin: I believe Sadat has become very much interested in also having Syria agree to a separation of forces...
...had not agreed to a cease-fire on the 21st, the situation might have been different...
...We had only the regulars...
...It might...
...They know that even if they start, we can reach the Canal...
...Rabin: He did it in '67...
...Rabin: Well, it was a mistake...
...This is why on the one hand the U.S...
...At the first moment the question was, where do we start our counteroffensive...
...I don't think it is the right time to bring up issues that are not new, that do not derive from the present situation and the major problems we face and will face...
...Only then— I don't know if it will be May or June or July or August—will we start negotiating a political settlement...
...Why should we give them back everything...
...The fact is that he was given the responsibility for the crossings...
...Kaplan: Are the new lines more secure than the old ones...
...Having the no-man's land reduces—it does not eliminate—the possibility of exchanging fire...
...Kaplan: What do you mean...
...In the first phase of the war we were caught by surprise...
...is 360 per year, because of the limitations imposed by Congress, and just in the Middle East we talk now of thousands...
...In Europe you can find it, in Germany—a dual system in which, let's say, two-thirds of the Knesset representatives would be elected by direct vote and one-third by national party lists...
...Could we do it just as simply as that...
...The problem was with trench fighting...
...After all, it was not Israel that asked for the cease-fire...
...We have 120 Knesset members...
...Kaplan: Egypt gained territory when Israel withdrew...
...Third, people here are not easily fooled...
...We had delayed the order to start withdrawing from the Sinai...
...If there is another war, the line is still a good one, much better than the line I had to face in '67, believe me...
...Kaplan: Interestingly, the Arabs I have spoken to say he is virtually an Israeli...
...The Israeli soldier overcame the first surprise attack and managed to turn the tide to the extent that, if not for the cease-fire, I am quite sure the war would have ended much better...
...Rabin: The oil weapon certainly proved to be quite effective in most places...
...Libya is far away...
...They were talking war before the Yom Kippur attack, and intelligence had come from more than one source...
...Unfortunately, one has to bear in mind that the ability of the Soviet Union —some people suspect it is not only the ability, but the will—to supply tanks, planes, etc., to the Arabs is greater, in terms of numbers, than the U.S.'s ability to supply Israel...
...The main threat to Sadat in the Arab world is from the extremists on the Left, and he doesn't want to be exposed as the only one who started to do something with the Israelis...
...Kaplan: Wasn't the upcoming election a factor in the decision not to call up troops...
...Rabin: It is better than something less satisfactory...
...In '67," people say, "nothing happened [with the Russians], and we really destroyed the Egyptian forces...
...Rabin: That is the problem...
...I would say the opposite...
...We have an agreement with the Egyptians, we are under less pressure politically and militarily, and we can negotiate a much better deal...
...It is not that we are afraid of fighting or that we are afraid of war—we are not afraid, but we are not eager, unless it is really essential...
...Rabin: We waited because we had reason to believe they would attack with their armored divisions...
...Rabin: When people say politici-zation, what do they mean...
...The Armed Forces, the military people have the obligation to obey the orders of those who were elected...
...We can prevent the other side from achieving its own final goal— the elimination of Israel as a political entity—but we have never been able to impose by military means an acceptance of or reconciliation with the existence of Israel...
...We would have been much worse off...
...Kaplan: They mean bringing politics into the military...
...Kaplan: What would be the first step to an Israeli-Syrian disengagement...
...The Sinai disengagement also gives us time to organize ourselves for the political struggle...
...We would like to show this not only to Syria but to the world, which for some reason is not convinced that we really want peace...
...Under these circumstances, I think there was heavy pressure on the high command...
...Some argue, was it right, was it wrong, but that is a matter of policy, not politics...
...Kaplan: Many people in Israel argue that Russia did not intervene directly in '67 or in any of the earlier wars, and that accepting the cease-fire last October out of fear of Russia was unrealistic...
...We had to withdraw...
...Should we, say, decide to take Damascus and Cairo, I think that would be stupidity...
...Kaplan: If you were in the position of General David Elazar [the then Israeli Chief of Staff] what would your decision have been...
...Rabin: Some people said there might be an attack...
...When they crossed the Canal we were limited in our ability to use our air power to support our forces...
...And we must overcome...
...We must shuffle within the government, within the Armed Forces, everywhere...
...What the Syrians would get is all that was taken in '73, except for a UN barrier between the forces, say five to eight kilometers...
...One can say about the October War that whenever we came to a point where we could go into the open with our tanks, and maneuver, the outcome of the battle was clearly in our favor...
...Now let's assume 80 would come from districts that Israel would be divided into, and 40 would come from national lists...
...The problem is that our political system has created a situation where the Religious party has become the influencing factor in forming a coalition...
...There is a continuation of the shooting and your side is winning...
...It was not the right time to bargain for an overall settlement...
...But we have to be ready to accept the separation of forces for a simple reason: Only through such an agreement can we get back our prisoners of war, only through such an agreement can we reach a situation where there would be no daily clashes along the Syrian border...
...Sometimes I was between Mapai and [its slightly more hawkish partner] Achdut Avodah, because I was in the Palmach...
...Second, it might be our logic— it is not their logic—that opening the Suez Canal, rebuilding the cities . . . No one does that if he aims to go to war...
...I am sure that will happen...
...But judging from my own experience in the States, I didn't want to see Israel in the position where negotiations were going on, and the Arabs could say, "We are ready to enter into a peace agreement with Israel if Israel will withdraw from every inch of the territories taken during the Six Day War...
...I don't buy it...
...Rabin: When you talk about the mood in Israel after the traumatic experience of the Yom Kippur War, I don't see any real purpose to denying the impact was negative...
...Sharon had the responsibility to clear the way, to establish the bridgehead, and then another division had to move...
...No one can put himself in somebody else's shoes, but I think the decision was understandable...
...Kaplan: Many people felt he was not serious about invading...
...I don't buy it whatsoever...
...Rabin: Well, that is not true...
...Rabin: Nonsense...
...and the Soviet Union reached an agreement to put an end to the fighting, to have a cease-fire...
...Therefore, one general thinks we could, one general thinks we could not afford to...
...Rabin: Throughout our 26 years we have always had to ask the question: Have we reached the point beyond which our use of force will provoke the world to do something against us...
...The division between the civilian and the military, as you say in the States, must be clear...
...And it happened...
...Because we have not been allowed to do what the Allies did in World War II, to continue the war to its end...
...We had difficulties with the bridges...
...It's farther, it's shorter, it's based on enough topographical features to allow us both a stiff defense and great maneuverability...
...Rabin: I think we might have reached the utmost limit between the 22nd of October [the original cease-fire date] and the 24th [when it actually took hold...
...Kaplan: In retrospect, was it a mistake to concentrate on the North first...
...Rabin: But, you know, I would not trust him in a time of crisis for Israel, by no means...
...Kaplan: You don't believe political expedience took precedence at any time, even at the time of the attack...
...Kaplan: You do understand it, even now...
...the Israeli advantage comes in maneuverability...
...You know, in a war there are so many hypothetical questions that should be discussed, but I am afraid that the way some have presented the situation is unjustified...
...The feeling is that it was stopped, interrupted, before we gained something decisive...
...It was not clever to use a limited force for such an operation...
...But from the Russian point of view I think there is a great difference politically between letting the Egyptian Army be destroyed east of the Suez Canal and letting it be destroyed west of the Canal—because west means the gates of Cairo are open to the Israeli forces...
...Rabin: I don't buy it...
...True, he had no air coverage, no ground-to-air missiles...
...Luckily it was not effective in the U.S...
...could not prevent...
...And you have to bear in mind that in the Jewish religion, not to find the body of a man who has passed away, and not to bring him to be buried in accordance with Jewish law—this is a pressing matter, a commitment that has not been fulfilled by the families, by society...
...Rabin: I have learned one thing —don't try to predict what will happen in the Middle East...
...The Russians could have said to the Americans, "We agreed to a cease-fire...
...He had two very good armored divisions, M-60 American tanks, a lot of artillery...
...But here we have much more time...
...Rabin: It is true, sometimes it can work that way...
...Kaplan: What do you see as the overriding problem facing Israel at the moment...
...I mean tactically, the way we were surprised in the beginning of the October War...
...Believe me, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff would have given everything to be able to avoid that kind of mistake...
...I have never agreed to enter into an argument about it, but what actually happened...
...Kaplan: Which was a threat...
...to the Soviet Union—is 1:8...
...Is there more protection from attack...
...Rabin: This has to do with something else...
...Kaplan: Who crossed the Canal, under what circumstances and representing which party, all of these decisions are said to have been politically motivated...
...I'm sure you have heard stories of what happened in the Golan Heights, where a few tanks actually stopped tens if not hundreds of tanks...
...What we gained are certain conditions that might make things harder for the Egyptians if they pursue a policy of war...
...Rabin: I believe that I wouldn't have risked it...
...On the first level, there is the Arab-Israeli conflict...
...I hope, and I believe, and I enter into political life with the purpose of bringing about a change in our political system—of establishing closer or better relations between the elected and the electorate...
...You couldn't achieve everything by one element...
...Kaplan: Would you still have the backing of the U.S., regardless of your decision...
...Second is the change in our national election system that I have outlined, which would change the political map of Israel...
...We can make any decision we want...
...their ground-to-air missiles can give good cover to their own forces, but cannot reach ours...
...But there were some mishaps...
...We have lived for 26 years under certain arrangements...
...If there are leaders of this country, responsible leaders, who at the present would like to engage the country and prevent the formation of a Cabinet—I don't know, I can't find words...
...Once you are blind, no arrangements can give you the kind of warning you really need...
...On the second day of the war we thought we could manage on [both fronts...
...It is easier to defeat them if they attack you...
...Rabin: One can argue that the decision was not the right one...
...In the South we had a lot of area and a lot of room to gain time...
...And it shows the U.S...
...You have to bear in mind that we couldn't launch a preemptive attack because our land forces weren't ready...
...In the October War, the Egyptians moved their missiles closer to the Canal and had over 10 miles of effective range on the east side...
...Kaplan: But you were fully mobilized in 24 hours...
...We have heard that the total production of tanks in the U.S...
...Rabin: I would say, when it comes to Syria, that we must take a firm position...
...What did Israel gain...
...Kaplan: A simple error in evaluation...
...Even though the Syrians are far more fanatic—the average Syrian is more anti-Israel than the average Egyptian—Syria alone cannot continue a war against Israel...
...A tragic mistake...
...Is that satisfactory...
...What is the purpose of rebuilding cities that are going to be destroyed again...
...The combatants accepted, then the war went on...
...Kaplan: Didn't General Sharon charge that when he asked to cross the Suez he waited and waited while a meeting of generals decided which one's political party would be given the credit...
...There are exchanges of fire along the line at present, and there could be a more serious resumption of hostilities...
...Rabin: We are completely autonomous, but we might have to suffer the consequences of our autonomy...
...Rabin: By introducing a different political system...
...People tend to forget...
...It didn't work...
...Rabin: I would say that within the Armed Forces of Israel, there were no political discriminations...
...People don't realize the additional risks or threats that were avoided by certain steps Israel took...
...Anyhow, I think that our overall conduct of the war was right—the major decision to go into the North, to contain the South, and only then to start the attack...
...Rabin: Limitations that have prevented Israel from gaining a decisive victory, the kind the people want, a victory whose political results would put an end to the war...
...I remember the argument in 1948, or especially in January 1949...
...We withdrew from the West Bank of the Suez Canal, we withdrew from parts of the East Bank...
...We had to let them go out of political considerations...
...Kaplan: Was there a threat from the United States...
...A preemptive strike means that you start fighting before your enemy starts...
...Kaplan: What about Iraq...
...I am not saying that the separation-of-forces agreement is definitely going to be reached, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try...
...I would say there were certain mistakes made, there were certain shortcomings...
...If the U.S...
...Let's say we would like to encourage people to settle in sparsely populated places...
...This crossing was an operation in which more than one division was involved...
...In the States, as you know, that develops the kind of relationship between a representative and his own area that ties him to the local interests...
...I believe there are limits to the U.S...
...it was a mistake...
...Besides, he himself said to me that in this war you had to have a multi-division force...
...They need the military option as an instrument to instigate, to give a push to the political effort...
...Something that . . . who knows what will happen to Israel...
...Why...
...If anything worries me, it is a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union...
...We saw the build-up that was coming and we decided to conduct the war in a different way: to achieve something decisive first in the North [on the Syrian front], to contain in the South, and then to bring in more forces from the North to start the attack there...
...And those who live upstairs do not always allow those who live downstairs to rearrange the walls according to their own wishes or capabilities...
...Rabin: In any agreement you give and you take...
...It would be beyond the rules of the game...
...What Israel has given is clear...
...Rabin: First, in the period between the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, rightly or wrongly, people lived with expectations about the capabilities of our Armed Forces that did not materialize...
...Practically the entire Egyptian Army was encircled or about to be encircled, but we had to let them go...
...But the political as well as the military leadership did not reach the conclusion that there would be a war, to the extent of ordering a mobilization prior to the 6th of October...
...For the struggle requires us to be strong all around— politically, militarily...
...Not everyone knows exactly why, but everyone realizes that since 1948 there have always been limitations imposed on Israel from the outside...
...They stood alone against hordes of tanks, and the way they fought I think was really...
...But the important thing is that we need new ideas and changes in the kind of people who are attracted to politics...
...I think that, again, you have to bear in mind the psychological situation of the General Staff—the way that the war started, the number of casualties, the sensitivity of the people to casualties...
...I'm quite sure that two to four months after [Egyptian President Anwar el-] Sadat finds a way to persuade Syria to accept a separation-of-forces agreement, he'll start to press for negotiations for a political settlement...
...I was second to Yigal Allon, Israel's Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces fighting against Egypt, and Allon argued then almost like General Ariel Sharon today...
...But if you keep certain national issues in the elections, and a certain number of candidates are not influenced by local considerations while others are, you maintain a certain balance between those directly responsible to their districts and those who reflect the national interest...
...Kaplan: Then the threat of Russian intervention is a permanent stumbling block to Israel's achievement of its political goals...
...Everyone involved today, especially the politicians, says it was a fatal mistake not to have mobilized...
...Kaplan: Then Israel cannot be autonomous in making its foreign policy decisions...
Vol. 57 • May 1974 • No. 10
