Letter to Israeli PM Eshkol on Flexibility in Peace Talks
(October 23, 1968)
President Johnson wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in
an effort to pressure Israel to be more flexible in
peace talks.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
I have appreciated your recent letters, and I had a
good talk with Foreign Minister Eban yesterday. He will be reporting
in detail our strong feelings on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
but I wish to write you this personal note to be sure our emphasis on
that issue does not obscure a larger point.
I know you face a difficult series of meetings this
week and wish to send you this word of encouragement.
I am deeply concerned, as you know, Mr. Prime Minister,
about Israel's future, and I understand how strongly some of your colleagues
feel that Israel's future can best be guaranteed by military means and
expanded borders alone. It is so much easier to argue in terms of military
balance and lines on a map than it is to argue the case for political
compromise. But our own experience has proved that real peace is not
found alone on the walls of a fortress---or under the umbrella of air
power--or behind a nuclear shield.
Every American President knows that our most secure
borders are the open borders with Mexico and Canada. That day may not
be close for Israel with the UAR, but it could be close with Jordan.
I feel so strongly about the irrationality of trying
to make peace by force alone that I must urge you to resist those who
find it easier to risk Israel's future on today's expanded boundaries
than to reach out for real peace. From my own difficult personal decision
last March, I can say with feeling that it is not easy to lead a nation
toward a necessary peace without jeopardizing hard-won gains and the
future those gains have earned. But I can also say that it is worth
reasonable risks, measured compromise, and personal pain.
I do not presume to say what your Government should
do. But I pray that you and your colleagues will find the courage to
seize this moment of opportunity so that peace may be "within thy walls."
I look forward to seeing you later this year.
Sincerely,
Lyndon B. Johnson
Sources: Foreign
Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, V. 20, Arab-Israeli Dispute
1967-1968. DC: GPO,
2001. |