MIDDLE EAST: The Israelis' Secret Peace Initiative

ISRAEL last week was on the diplomatic offensive for the first time since the Soviet military advisers were expelled from Egypt two months ago. That sudden and historic expulsion left Israel militarily supreme in the Middle East, and therefore able to risk making a generous peace offer. At the same time, Israel could no longer cite security as a reason for hanging on to the territory taken from the Arabs during the 1967 Six-Day War; it thus faced the possibility of international pressure to return the land to its rightful owners. Israel cautiously waited before making its move, but it...

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