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MIDDLE EAST SITUATION REPORT NUMBER 43 (AS OF 1130 EDT)

Document Type: 
CREST [1]
Collection: 
Library of Congress [2]
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8
Release Decision: 
RIPLIM
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
14
Document Creation Date: 
January 11, 2017
Document Release Date: 
August 12, 2010
Sequence Number: 
17
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
October 16, 1973
Content Type: 
MEMO
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8.pdf [3]308.45 KB
Body: 
14-4) 114:25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 , :Clf.NTRA?,f4 INTELLIGENOE AGENCY' ; 36 October 1973. , ? ? INTELLfGh;NC?Pil,MMORODUM State Dept review completed MORI CO2826101 MIDDLE EAST ? . Situation Report Numl;er 43 (as og 1130 EDT) TL-flmiLITAR 3ITU7TION ? GENERAL. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 SYRIAN FRONT ? 4. According to Tel Aviv, a combined Syrian/ Iraqi force attacked Israeli positions at dawn, but was repulsed. The Israeli counterattack between ,Sasa and Al Harrah is pointed toward the Dara- Damascus road and Israeli forces may be within five miles of it. There have' been no reports of heavy. ? fighting in the northern or southern sectors of the Syrian front so far today. ' No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 ,25X1 25X1 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 S. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 SADAT SPEECH 13 . President Sadat addressed a joint. session of the People s Assembly and the -Arab Socialist Union central committee today, adopting a tone of consider- able confidence. and--with the notable exception of an inflammatory reference to Egyptian missile poised to. strike isra.el--of some reStraint. -4- No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 15. Sadat made his *reference to the. missile in a relatively conciliatory context, 'noting ?that Egypt was ready with the missile if necessary, but that its desire was not.to annihilate Israel but only to lib- erate the land 'occupied in 1967, 16. In this same vein, Sadat laid out a tough peace position which allowed for.,some flexibility, particularly on the.Palestinian question. In discuss- ing Egypt.'s, terms, Sadat 'again. made it clear that his is to restrain .rather than destroy Israel. Sadat's proposal, which he addressed as an open message .to President 'Nixon,. is that Zgypt will accept. a cease-. .fire when Israel has agreed to a withdrawal to the. 1967 borders; that.upoa completion ?c4 .the withdrawal' it will enter into a UN-Sponsored 'international press conference,-the merits of which Sadat.said he would do his utmost to impress upon the Palestinians; and that Egypt. is "ready at this hour" to begin clearing the Suoz Canal. 17. Sadat's position on Israeli withdrawal ap- pears to be uncompromising, but his willingness to enter an international conference to secure a.peace settlement and his repeated statements that he does not want to annihilateIsrael suggest that he is will- ing to go some distance to accommodate Israells security needs. Furthermore, he makes it clear that he regards the 1967 border question as separate from the issue of the territory of Israel proper, which the Palestinians' -5- No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK7543-2-17-8 25X1 25X1 . No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 claim as th.c.lt07. own.. Ho calls only gor momo racogni- tion of Pl.laratinis,n rights in context Lri which he. clearly does not mean recognition og..Palestinian ? territory, a pogition which. seriously? undercuts .the fc.-dayeen staid and which Sadat has (;)r some time expounded. -6 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 et 25X1 25X1 25X1 ?? No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 _ 25X1 KOSYGIN ON ,WAY TO CAIRO? 25X1 ? SOVIET NAVAL ACTIVITY 23. TASS has announced that a cruiser and de-. . stroyer have begun a visit to the Italian port of Taranto today and will also visit Messina. The visit has been scheduled for several months. The Soviet . ships involved had entered the Mediterranean last week. SOVIET MEDI% ON US AID TO ISRAEL ? ? 24. Moscow is continuing to issue reports on US military support for Israel but is treating them ia 4i J. 14-1 VI .11 IPs. lit No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 il ? - ? P' ? No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 ? .? in relatively moderate fashion. TASS today issued a round-up of US originated reports on arms deliveries indicating that tanks and aircraft were being sent to: Israel. A Soviet domestic radiobroadcast today re- ' peated a French press report that .300 cargo planes have transitted the Azores for the Middle East. Mos- cow has made no mention of US statements that the re- supply effort is in response to similar Soviet activity. ' ARAB REACTION TO US RESUPPLY EFFORT 25. Arab reaction, official and press, has in general been bitior but somewhat restrained. Presi- dehts Sadat and Asad both gave speeches this morning which touched only lightly on the US airlift and em- phasized their conficence that the resupply effort will have little effect on the Arabs' determination to pursue the battle. Most authoritative press com- mentary has adopted a similar line. Cairo press and radio editorialists, for instance, have taken the . position that the need for shipments of arms to Is- rael proves the Arab contention that the Israelis are militarily in trouble Some bitterness emerged, in a Cairo radiobroadcast which noted,that."the US position means that US policy wishes Israel to oc- cUpy the Sinai desert (and),..shares With Zionism its ambitions in the. Syrian heights." But the same cora- mentary emphasizes that "God has willed something else" and that the Arabs will continue on to victory ? despite the uS. 26. Much of the press treatment in the Arab world gives heavier coverage to President NixOn's press conference reference to US policy in the Lebanon crisis of 1958 than it does to the airlift to Israel. Although some papers have banneted what they call the ,"Great American Betrayal" and all have indicated some apprehension that the US intends direct military inter- vention in the conflict, many have expressed the hope that the US intention is only to intimidate the Arabs No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 26X1 25X1 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 The Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram states its belief that the US has actually 571767a itself in an embarrassing position; the US would not, the paper theorizes, put its troops into combat in Arab lands, but would act militarily only tp protect Israel proper, thus im- plicitly recognizing the validity of the pre-1967 bordQx The US Interests Section in,Cair0 has been re- stricted in its access to Egyptian.'goVernment.Offi- cials, larobably, as a result o4 the US airlift, but this apparently involves only a new Egyptian .require- ment that Interests Section officials .be. accompanied in their meetings with. the Egyptians ? by 'representa- tives of the Spanish Embassy, which officially repre- sents US interests in Egypt. Egyptian foreign Ministry officials have emphasized that thissrestraint will not affect the Status of private Americans in Egypt, and the restriction may be eased in situations requiring urgent handling, such as the ..evacuation of American citizens. Malavsian Student Demonstrations About 1,000 Malaysian students supporting the Arab cause in the Mideast gathered at the office building in:Kuala Lumpur housing the US embassy on No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 16 October. The demonstration, the third since . Friday, resulted in the burning of' a US 21ag and the .brea)cing of two windows at the nearby USIS library, -10- No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 ? 25X1 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12: LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/12 : LOC-HAK-543-2-17-8 25X1

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