Prof. Hans Morgenthau, the political scientist, believes that Israel will be forced by U.S. and other international pressure to return to its pre-June, 1967 borders after which it will be only a matter of time before its existence is terminated. Prof. Morgenthau believes the U.S. will exert pressure on Israel to withdraw because of the Arab oil embargo and because Americans are “blinded by detente.”
He said that when the U.S. demanded that Israel open a supply route to the encircled Egyptian Third Army during the Yom Kippur War, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan telephoned Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to protest that such a move was unprecedented in the history of warfare. He was told by Kissinger that If Israel failed to accede, “you will fight your next war by yourselves,” Morgenthau claimed.
He also stated that the American global alert declared by President Nixon last month was precipitated not by evidence that the Russians planned to send paratroops to the Middle East but because a Soviet ship loaded with nuclear warheads had arrived in Alexandria. When the alert was declared, the ship turned back, Morgenthau said. He made his remarks Sunday night on “Firing Line,” a National Educational Television Network program hosted by William F. Buckley. Morgenthau maintained that so far the Soviets have been the only party to benefit from detente and the only quid pro quo gained by the U.S. was a muting of anti-American rhetoric by Kremlin leaders.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
