MK Herzog repeats canard that Golda Meir caused Yom Kippur War by rejecting
deal
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA 12 October 2015

In his address the the Knesset at the opening of Knesset winter session
today MK Yitzhak Herzog attributed the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to Golda
Meir's rejection of peace initiatives. In truth Sadat - Not Golda Meir -
rejected negotiations to avoid Yom Kippur War

A. The Kissinger initiative

The following excerpt from "The Rabin Memoirs by Yitzhak Rabin" (pages
215-218) provides solid evidence that Prime Minister Golda Meir was open to
negotiating an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai before the 1973 Yom Kippur
War. It was Anwar Sadat who opted for war over diplomacy.

...February 28 [AL: 1973]...Kissinger, who received me at the White House at
7:30 that evening with an omniscient expression on his face. "I imagine that
the prime minister has had a tough and depressing day," he said in what
sounded to me like a self-satisfied tone. ...he noted that his approach in
his talks with Hafez Ismail of Egypt had concentrated on the principle of
"security versus sovereignty." Translated into pragmatic terms, it meant
that Israel would have to accept Egyptian sovereignty over all of the Sinai
but that Egypt, in turn, would have to accept an Israeli military presence
in certain strategic positions, such as Sharm el-Sheikh (though he hastened
to add that such an Israeli military presence might have to be disguised as
a civilian one).

...Golda readily agreed, so long as it was understood that such explorations
would be undertaken with Israel's knowledge but not in her behalf. I
immediately notified Kissinger...

...In April, Dr. Kissinger continued his efforts to reach an understanding
with Hafez Ismail on the basis of the "security versus sovereignty" formula,
but in May President Sadat rejected the proposal - as he had earlier
rejected the idea of "proximity talks." By then Sadat was already fully
determined to go to war, and he was not interested in exploring any
political solution that was not set out purely on his own terms...."

B. The Israeli initiative

Ronen Pollak reported on Israel Radio 9 June 2013 that documents published
by the State Archives show that three months before the Yom Kippur War.
Prime Minister Golda Meir asked German Chancellor Willy Brant to send a
message to President Sadat of Egypt that Israel was willing to give up most
of the Sinai Peninsula, but stressed that Israel would not return to the '67
lines.

Israel did not report the move to the United States.

A German envoy met with the Egyptian President's senior advisor and
consultant Hafez Ismail who rejected the offer as long as Israel was not
willing to withdraw to the '67 lines.