Word: golan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...principal problem facing Kissinger is that the Golan Heights, the geopolitical area he has to work with this time, is smaller and more difficult to sort out than the Sinai desert of Egypt. No armies are trapped there to add urgency to negotiations; rather, there are civilian settlers on both sides, which makes discussions more complicated. Both nations, moreover, have made seemingly irreconcilable demands. Syria insists that Israel, as a first step, return all of the 154-sq.-mi. "bulge" that it captured in the October war along with portions of Syrian territory captured in 1967, including Quneitra, the principal...
Overriding Concern. Israel is prepared to give up only the bulge as an initial step. "Quneitra is possible," says an Israeli negotiator, "but not in the first stage. First we want to establish Syrian intentions." Israel's overriding concern, of course, is that the Golan Heights overlook vast reaches of northern Israeli territory. In the past, Syrian gunners have periodically raked Israeli kibbutzim with artillery stationed on the strategic heights. For that reason, Israel has established new settlements on the Golan -one more was dedicated last week-as a symbol of its determination to continue to occupy the territory...
Most of the Middle East was bathed in sunshine, but high atop snowy Mount Hermon north of the Golan Heights an ominous battle between Israelis and Syrians raged day afterday. For the past six weeks Syrian guns have off and on bombarded Israeli installations in a concerted effort to convince Israel that it must return captured Syrian territory. But last week the diplomatic cannonading turned into a full-scale battle. Syrian commandos attempted to overrun Israeli positions held since the October war and were beaten back. Aircraft were called in on both sides for the first dogfights since last fall...
...with all the vigor that marked his earlier Middle East success in establishing disengagement between Israel and Egypt. Building toward future peace talks in Geneva, Kissinger in Washington had already discussed the dimensions of disengagement with Dayan, who brought him Israel's concept of limited withdrawal from the Golan. Kissinger had also talked with Syria's General Hikmat Chahabi, whose outline understandably called for a greater Israeli withdrawal. But Kissinger obviously thought there was enough agreement between the two that aides talked about a Kissinger shuttle on the 45-minute flight between Tel Aviv and Damascus similar...
Spartan State. Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy will have to take into account not only Cairo's increasingly independent role, but also the continuing unsettled political situation in Israel. Even while they watched the Golan Heights last week and alerted reservists to defend it, Israel's political leaders were busy trying to agree on a successor to Premier Golda Meir, who resigned two weeks ago. Labor Party leaders had a choice of selecting someone else, if the right supporting coalition could be found, or of asking Golda to continue with a caretaker government. In either case...