Premier Golda Meir told the Jewish Agency Assembly Thursday evening that she would bring “no new ideas” to Washington when she meets with President Nixon in March. “We have no new ideas because there is nothing wrong with the old ones.” She said that there was not as much pressure on Israel now as there was two or three years ago, not because Israel had convinced the world that Its policies were correct, but because the Arabs had persuaded the world that Israel should not be pressured.
“The world listens to (Egypt’s President Anwar) Sadat, to (Iraq’s President Hafez el) Assad, to (El Fatah leader Yasir) Arafat, to the Libyan leaders, and it learns that there is a limit, even in this world, to what you can do to a people that has suffered the experiences we have suffered,” Mrs. Meir said. The Israeli Premier said that only Israel’s military strength had kept the cease-fire in operation for two-and-a-half years, “not because Sadat has decided that it isn’t nice to shoot at us.” She said she could not predict how long the relative tranquility on the northern border would last.
“The fact of Israeli military strength is more important than any international guarantees.” Premier Meir stated. She was referring to suggestions that the Big Four or Big Five patrol Sharm el Sheikh after an Israeli withdrawal. “This time, we have learned our lesson. We are not as pressurable as we were in 1956,” she said.
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