Speech #910157854

Inevitably this situation has cast the United States in the role of being a surrogate for Israela role which is not the choosing of Israel or the United States and a role not congenial either to Washington or Jerusalem. Moreover. the unwitting assumption of the surrogate role by the United States has been skillfully and relentlessly exploited by the Soviet Union to the disadvantage of both Israel and the United States. Indeed. it has caused the United States to be "entrapped" into making proposals on Palestinian Arab refugees. borders. and Jerusalem in Secretary Rogers speech of December 9. which Israel sincerely feels jeopardizes Its very survival and which were nonetheless promptlyand embarrassingly to the United Statesrepudiated by the U.S.S.R. The time has come to end the barren course being followed in the big two or big four context with its builtin disadvantage of encouraging the radical Arab States to remain away from the peace table in the hope that big power pressure on Israel will force crippling concessions that the Arabs could never win in peace negotiations. Ideally. the parties to the 1967 conflict should meet alone. settling old antagonisms and charting future cooperation on a giveandtake basis without the participation of outside powers.