Secret Peace Negotiations
(June 4, 1968)
Follwing the Six-Day
War, Israel and Jordan held a number of secret meeting in an
effort to negotiate peace. This CIA report refers to
some of these early meetings. Even after more than 30
years, the State Department would not declassify the
entire text.
SUBJECT: Jordan-Israel Secret Negotiations
1. The secret Jordan-Israel talks in
London covered the period between 4 May 1968 when Hussein
had his first meetings with Eban and 16 May 1968 when
Khammash had the final meeting with Israel Chief of
Staff Barlev. Following these, Hussein stopped briefly
in Paris for a meeting with General DeGaulle. By the
last week in May, Hussein was back in Amman [3 lines
of source text not declassified].
2. [7 lines of source text
not declassified] Hussein's preoccupation with the
danger of a major Israeli military action which would
destroy the moderate Jordan state has been reflected
in Embassy reporting.
3. [1½ lines of source text not
declassified] Eban agreed at the end of the London
talks that he would report to Eshkol and the Cabinet
Hussein's reaction to the Israel proposal for a settlement
described by Eban in London and Hussein's own counter-proposal.
[1112 lines of source text not declassified]
4. [11½ lines of source text not
declassified]
5. General DeGaulle, after hearing Hussein's appraisal
of the Middle East situation, told Hussein that if Hussein's statements
reflected the realities, the prospects for an early political solution
were dim and the threat of a major confrontation involving the Great
Powers in the Middle East within the next two years was real. Hussein
did not discuss his Israeli contacts with DeGaulle and DeGaulle's earlier
offers to mediate were not renewed.
Richard Helms
Sources: "Memorandum From Director
of Central Intelligence [Richard] Helms to President
Johnson," Smith, Louis J. (Ed.). Foreign
Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, V. 20, Arab-Israeli
Dispute 1967-1968. DC: GPO,
2001. |