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A serious problem erupted with the Israelis. Vance had just shown them a copy of our draft letter that would go to Sadat, restating the U.S. position on Jerusalem, which had been spelled out officially in U.N. debates over the years. There was an absolute furor, and Begin announced that Israel would not sign any document if we wrote any letter to Egypt about Jerusalem.
Hamilton Jordan, my assistant, called to tell me that the Israeli objections to a Jerusalem letter were extremely serious; the Israelis were determined to sign no agreement at all. Vance confirmed this and explained that none of the Israelis had understood that we were going to write a letter "criticizing Israel for occupying eastern Jerusalem," even after we had explained the letter exchange last night. I asked Barak to walk with me to Aspen to go over our proposed letter, to find language that might be acceptable. He was as adamant as the other Israelis, insisting that the situation was hopeless.
Earlier, my secretary, Susan Clough, had brought me some photographs of Begin, Sadat and me. They had already been signed by Sadat, and Begin had requested that I autograph them for his grandchildren. Knowing the trouble we were in with the Israelis, Susan suggested that she go and get the names of the grandchildren, so that I could personalize each picture. I did this, and walked over to Begin's cabin with them. He was sitting on the front porch, very distraught and nervous because the talks had finally broken down at the last minute.
I handed him the photographs. He looked down and saw that his granddaughter's name was on the top one. He spoke it aloud, then looked at each photograph, repeating the name of each grandchild. His lips trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes. He told me a little about each child and especially about the one who seemed to be his favorite. We were both emotional as we talked quietly for a few minutes about grandchildren and about war.
Then he asked me to step into his cabin, requesting that everyone else leave. He was quiet, sober, surprisingly friendly. There were no histrionics. He said that the Jerusalem matter was fatal, that he was very sorry but he could not accept our letter to Egypt. I told him I had drafted a new version and submitted it to Dayan and Barak. He had not yet seen it. I suggested he read it, but that there was no way that I could go back on my commitment to Sadat to exchange letters. Any future talks might depend on his and Sadat's assessment of my integrity, and I could not violate a promise.
I walked back to Aspen, very dejected. Sadat was there, dressed to go back to Washington. I asked everyone else to leave and told Sadat what was happening. We realized that all of us had done our best, but that prospects were dim indeed.
Then Begin called. He said, referring to the new version I had shown Dayan and Barak: "I will accept the letter you have drafted on Jerusalem." I breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that the last obstacle had been removed.
I looked up to see Hamilton and White House Press Secretary Jody Powell out on the terrace, anxiously peering into my window. When I gave them a thumbs-up sign, they beamed with relief. The tension was broken, and although I was