Former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said today that the United States had the power to make Egypt end its state of belligerency against Israel but up to now has not used it and, instead, pressed Israel to relinquish important ground without removing the threat to its security.
Dayan, addressing a group of about 450 United Jewish Appeal leaders assembled at his home in Zahala, said Egypt would end its belligerency if the U.S. demanded it because Egypt needs American economic and military help. The destinies of the Middle East are forged in Washington more than in Moscow, more than in Israel. If America insists, Egypt would do it, Dayan said.
But he charged that the U.S. was about to miss an historic opportunity to make a real move for peace in the Middle East. He said it was America’s duty to press for peace because it is not only a superpower but the leader of the free world. The U.S. should not give Egyptian President Anwar Sadat the option for war, he said.
Dayan told the UJA leaders that while the Mideast situation was a simple matter of foreign policy for the U.S., it was a matter of life or death for Israel. He urged closer relations between the Jews of Israel and Jews abroad, especially American Jews. “Let the Jews of Israel feel that they are not only three million. Help them, show warmth, not only economic help,” Dayan said.
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