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

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• 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
• Publication Date: October 16, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

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:Clf.NTRA?,f4 INTELLIGENOE AGENCY'
; 36 October 1973.
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State Dept review
completed
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MIDDLE EAST
?
. Situation Report Numl;er 43
(as og 1130 EDT)
TL-flmiLITAR 3ITU7TION ?
GENERAL.
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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. '
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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.
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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'
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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.
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KOSYGIN ON ,WAY TO CAIRO?
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? 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
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? .?
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
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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
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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,
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