the same day that the Israeli cabinet voted, in secret, to return two of the newly cap-
tured territories—the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights—to Egypt and Syria,
respectively, in exchange for peace. The Egyptian and Syrian governments rejected the
offer, and Israel withdrew it.
Addressing a conference at the State Department, Johnson laid out what he called
“five great principles of peace” in the region: that every country has the “right to live”
and to have that right respected by its neighbors; that refugees from armed conflicts
deserve justice; that maritime rights be respected; that the “wasteful and destructive
arms race” be halted or at least limited; and that all states in the area be accorded
“respect for political independence and territorial integrity.” Johnson did not, how-
ever, offer specific proposals for reaching any of these goals.
Subsequent U.S. policies toward the Middle East have incorporated all of John-
son’s goals, though some have received greater prominence than others. Every U.S.
administration since Johnson’s has emphasized the first and last goals, which relate to
Israel’s existence as a Jewish state in a region dominated by Muslims. Protecting mar-
itime rights also has been an important feature of U.S. policy, although it has not been
severely tested since Israel made peace with Egypt in 1978–1979.
Justice for refugees and limiting the arms race in the Middle East are the two goals
in Johnson’s plan that have received the least attention from U.S. policymakers. The
former goal refers to the plight of several hundred thousand Palestinians who fled or
were forced from their homes during the 1948 and 1967 wars. Israel consistently has
argued that Arab countries are responsible for the refugees, most of whom endure
impoverished lives in neighboring Arab lands, and the United States rarely has pressed
the Arabs or the Israelis to find permanent solutions for the refugees. The United States
has routinely ignored Johnson’s warnings—prompted by the Soviet Union’s arming of
Egypt and other Arab countries—about the dangers of a Middle Eastern arms race.
Indeed, since the 1970s the United States has been the most important source of
weapons in the region, selling advanced warplanes, tanks, bombs, and other equip-
ment primarily to Israel, but also to Egypt, Iran (until the Islamic revolution in 1979),
Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
Following are excerpts from the address by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the State
Department’s Foreign Policy Conference for Educators on June 19, 1967.DOCUMENT
Johnson on the Middle East
JUNE19, 1967... Now, finally, let me turn to the Middle East—and to the tumultuous events of
the past months.
Those events have proved the wisdom of five great principles of peace in the region.
The first and the greatest principle is that every nation in the area has a funda-
mental right to live, and to have this right respected by its neighbors.
104 ARABS AND ISRAELIS