Political Changes: 1967-1970 • 341Israel
Meanwhile, Ben-Gurion's successor as premier, Levi Eshkol, died in March
- His replacement was the former foreign minister and Mapai secretary-
general, Golda Meir. Although she was supposed to serve only as a caretaker
until the November 1969 elections, disputes among other politicians and
factions within Israel's ruling Labor Alignment made her the most accept¬
able standard-bearer for her party. After the elections she formed a broad
coalition government. She proved to be a strong-willed, capable leader. Born
in Russia and reared in Milwaukee, she managed to stop Israel's prima don¬
nas, Yigal Allon and Moshe Dayan, from fighting publicly. She could also
make Americans view Middle Eastern events through Israeli glasses.
The Postwar Peace Settlement,
As usual, the State Department was less influenced by Israel than any other
branch of the US government. In yet another attempt to break the Middle
East impasse, Secretary of State William Rogers proposed in December 1969
the peace plan that has come to bear his name. Basically, the Rogers Plan
called for a renewal of the Israeli-Egyptian cease-fire and a resumption of
larring's mediation efforts between the two countries. Rogers envisaged a
lasting peace "sustained by a sense of security on both sides," with borders
that "should not reflect the weight of conquest"—meaning that Israel
should give up almost all the lands it had taken in the war. He added that
"there can be no lasting peace without a just settlement of the refugee prob¬
lem," but he did not specify what that might be. As for Jerusalem, he op¬
posed its annexation by Israel and proposed that it be united and accessible
to all faiths and nationalities. Nasir rejected the Rogers Plan at first, but the
Arab summit meeting held that month at Rabat offered him little additional
military or economic aid to help Egypt fight the War of Attrition.
The war's escalation during the first half of 1970 and the threat of super¬
power involvement may have made the Rogers Plan look better to Nasir;
the Americans might give him by diplomacy what Egypt's armed forces
had failed to gain by war. In a dramatic policy shift, Nasir announced
Egypt's acceptance of a revised Rogers Plan on 23 July. Jordan, harassed by
mounting fidaiyin activities on its soil, quickly followed suit. Israel dis¬
trusted the new US policy but reluctantly went along. A ninety-day cease¬
fire took effect, and Jarring resumed his rounds of Middle Eastern capitals
(except Damascus, which still rejected Resolution 242). Israel's doubts
seemed justified when Egypt moved some of its new surface-to-air missiles
within range of the Suez Canal, an apparent violation of the agreement.
Egypt replied that it had planned to move them before the cease-fire was