Word: gaza
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Begin then outlined his previous position on the Sinai, emphasizing his most disturbing point, that the Israeli settlements on Egyptian soil were a necessary buffer between Gaza and Egypt. He next addressed the issue of a separate agreement with Egypt, to the exclusion of the Palestinians, Jordanians and Syrians. Begin believed that an agreement on the Sinai might come first, with a later accord on "Judea and Samaria." (Begin always referred to the West Bank by the biblical names, I assume to engender the notion that this was the promised land that God himself had given the Jews...
...anticipated this, and I responded that we did not desire any military bases in the heart of the Middle East but that if it was necessary for peace, we would consider such an idea. Begin proposed that sovereignty over the West Bank-Gaza area be left open, and reiterated that some Israeli military forces would have to be kept there. He was convinced that if Israel pulled out completely, the P.L.O. terrorists would take over within 24 hours. But he stated emphatically that he was willing for the West Bank Palestinians to have autonomy: Begin always said "full autonomy...
...then discussed the equally serious problem of the Palestinians: how they should govern themselves after the Israeli military government was terminated, how many would be permitted to return to their homeland, and the status of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. There were sharp differences on these points, the most important of all for the Arabs. Israeli security and Palestinian rights were the two crucial demands that would be so hard to reconcile...
Begin was not willing to admit that all the provisions of Resolution 242 applied to the West Bank and Gaza, or that the questions of the Sinai settlements and airstrips would have to be resolved before a peace treaty could be signed. I demurred, but did not spend much time arguing this first night...
...assessed the difference between sovereignty on the Golan Heights and in the Sinai vs. the West Bank and Gaza. He said there was a great difference. There were recognized international boundaries for Sinai, all of which belonged to Egypt, and for the Golan, all of which belonged to Syria. I asked him where he ascribed sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza, and he replied, "Sovereignty rests among the people who live there, not in either Jordan or Israel." He would not yield any of the occupied land to Israel, at least in this early session. All of it should...