Not to be forgotten

Twenty-five years ago, a no-peace, no-war situation prevailed in this region. All attempts to reach an agreement after the 1970 Roger Plan were crushed on the rock of Israeli belligerence. An imbalance of power threatened the region at every moment. The Soviet Union, which was supporting the Arab front, did not seek any real change, and therefore refused to give the Arabs their full weapons' requirements, on the principle that we should limit ourselves to self-defence. On the other hand, the United States was providing Israel with a continuous supply of hi-tech weapons, which served to increase Israeli hostility and obstinacy. In this stagnant atmosphere, under which ran the undercurrent of Arab popular frustration and desperation, the Soviet experts were expelled from Egypt -- a move aimed at neutralising the US. The idea was to create a situation which would limit the extent to which US-Israeli interests remained interchangeable.

The war bore its fruits, changing the balance of power in the region and ending the state of polarisation that had existed. Only then could negotiations begin.

The lesson that the US and the Arabs have forgotten -- and that Israel has remembered -- is that a balance must be struck between the various parties at the negotiating table. The US must cease offering Israel its unconditional support. Only then will it be possible to hold negotiations centred on rights, not stipulations and categorical demands. Israel will be forced to sign an agreement to which it adheres -- like the peace agreement it signed with Egypt. We must not forget Sadat's words before the Knesset, on that fateful day in 1977: "We will not give up one inch of our land. There will be no real solution without the full return of our land and the achievement of Arab rights."