Summary
President of the United States (1974-1977) who, in Christison’s account, presided over the pivotal 1975 decisions on the Palestinians - the reassessment of policy toward Israel, ended under lobby pressure with no change, and the Sinai II pledge not to negotiate with the PLO - while not discussing the Palestinians anywhere in his 1979 memoirs (Perceptions of Palestine, lines 1496-1534).
Details
- Ford learned most of what he knew about foreign policy from Kissinger, had had virtually no contact with Arabs, and his exposure in U.S. politics had been almost entirely to the Jewish and Israeli perspective (Perceptions of Palestine, lines 1510-1520).
- In March 1975, believing Israeli inflexibility had caused the breakdown of a second Israeli-Egyptian disengagement attempt, he announced a reassessment and suspended new military and economic agreements with Israel; he was “really bugged” when seventy-six senators signed a letter urging him to “be responsive” to Israel’s request for $2.59 billion in aid, and the reassessment was quietly wrapped up with no change in policy (Perceptions of Palestine, lines 1510-1534).
- He met a group of Arab Americans, the first president ever to do so, during the reassessment consultations (Perceptions of Palestine, lines 1524-1534).
Related pages
Perceptions of Palestine, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, United States