A noted Israeli writer and journalist opined last night that the Yom Kippur War “would not, perhaps, have taken place” had not the Watergate crisis occurred. Speaking at the Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women in New York, Amos Elon, author of the highly acclaimed book, “The Israelis: Founders and Sons,” said that the Israelis are living now in an atmosphere of “fears and hopes.”
The fears are, according to Elon, that the future of Israel will be the same as that of Czechoslovakia in 1938. The hopes, even though vague, he said, are focused on the fact that for the first time there is an “unprecedented likelihood” for a settlement. “The Arabs say they want peace… they sit to negotiate with Israel,” Elon said, noting that in the latest Arab summit meeting in Algeria the Arabs did not repeat the three No’s of Khartoum. (No peace, no recognition, no negotiations with Israel.)
Answering questions on the Israeli political scene, Elon said he believes that a change of the present leadership will come rather soon. He observed that the Israeli leaders “belong to the generation of President (Calvin) Coolidge (1924-28). Referring to Menachem Beigin, he said: “Beigin’s mind is one of the under-developed territories in Israel…”
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