Nasser: Egypt Ready to Make Concessions to Israel if and when Peace Talks Begin

President Gamal Abdel Nasser, of Egypt, told an American magazine interviewer that peace can be established in the Middle East whenever Israel withdraws from all occupied Arab territories and agrees to solve the refugee problem either by repatriation or compensation. “We are not trying to crush Israel, to eliminate Israel. We want our lands. You would think the U.S. and Russia would help us recover these lands,” President Nasser told Charles S. Foltz, Jr., in an interview published in the May 18 edition of U.S. News & World Report. President Nasser attributed the loss of those lands to Israel in the 1967 war to Israel’s ability to wage “electronic warfare” for which its forces were equipped by the United States and which Egypt lacked. “Now of course, thanks to the Russians, we do have this technology,” he said. The refrain “thanks to the Russians” appeared repeatedly in the interview. He said, “As long as the war lasts we will need Russian technicians here,” adding that Egypt has asked the Russians for more weapons and more technicians to operate them. There was no reference in the interview to reported presence of Russian pilots flying Egyptian planes on operational missions over Egypt. He conceded that Egyptians will not soon learn how to handle advanced MIGs and the SAM-3 anti-aircraft missiles so that Russian technicians can be withdrawn.

President Nasser claimed that his country had no quarrel with the United States but was concerned only with U.S. supplies to Israel of “everything it needs to hold on to Arab lands and to keep war going.” He contended, “All Arabs want peace no less than all Israelis, perhaps much more, but we cannot and will not reach any kind of just peace while the other man holds our lands under occupation and turns our people into angry refugees.” He denied that Arab commandos inhibit Arab leaders from making peace. “When the commandos find justice they will no longer be a problem,” he said. Nasser contended that Egypt was ready to guarantee Israel free passage through the Straits of Tiran into the Gulf of Aqaba. “And you can add Suez to that. We will guarantee free Israeli passage of both Suez and Sharm el-Sheikh,” Nasser said. Asked about Jerusalem, he replied, “Nobody can give up Jerusalem. But if there is peace then all can have guaranteed freedom of access to the holy places.” He said further, if there is peace, if “the Israelis return the Arab lands and face the refugee problem,” Egypt will offer all of its arms “for sale to anyone who will buy.”