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There is no more perilously unstable area in the world. Israel, despite its overwhelming victory in last year's war, grows increasingly frustrated as it finds peace with its encircling Arab neighbors still beyond reach. The Arab countries, their armies and air forces rebuilding with major Soviet aid and advice, refuse to accept fully their defeat or abandon completely their long-range goal of eliminating Israel. The more responsible Arab leaders, including Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jordan's King Hussein, know that any early attack on Israel would only result in another resounding defeat. But in a measure they are prisoners of their Arab masses, long fed on the oratory of hate and revenge and embittered by the 26,000 sq. mi. of Arab territory—taken from Jordan, Syria and Egypt—now occupied by the Israelis.
Despite their common adversity, the Arabs are as quarrelsome and mistrustful of one another as ever. Iraq, for example, has sent troops to bolster shattered Jordan's defenses against Israel, and King Hussein worries about the Iraqis in his midst almost as much as he does about Israel. The U.S. is committed to peace in the area and to Israel's right to exist; but also vitally needs to establish better relations with the Arabs, most of whom regard America as simply the backer and ally of Israel. In this situation, Washington can do little beyond attempting to keep a reasonable balance of arms among the antagonists.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union, more influential in the Arab world than ever be cause of its arms shipments, has staked its own claim to the use of the Mediterranean for its expanding navy, sharply increasing the danger of a direct U.S.-Russian confrontation on the high seas should a new Middle East war break out.
For more than twelve months, United Nations Special Representative Gunnar Jarring has patiently sought grounds for agreement, and at least succeeded in becoming an intermediary whom both sides trust and through whom they have begun, in a fashion, to talk to each other. In the bitter history of Arab-Israeli relations, that is no mean accomplishment. Though his mandate was due to expire this month, both sides want him to stay on the job. One of the reasons is that Israel's stunning victory in the Six-Day War introduced at least a small element of reality into the Middle East impasse. Before the 1967 war, the only issue was Israel's existence, a matter clearly not negotiable at a conference table between the Israelis and the Arabs. But the matter of recovering the occupied territories is negotiable—theoretically. In the discussions with Jarring, the Israelis so far refuse to give up any of the occupied territories without guarantees of progress toward a full Middle East settlement. The Arabs in turn so far refuse to talk about a se tlement until the Israelis return the Arab lands.