Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume
XXVI, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1974–1976
Press Release
Office of the Historian Bureau of Public
Affairs United States Department of State August 15, 2012
The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the
United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXVI, Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1974–1976.
The focus of this volume is the negotiations leading to the two disengagement
agreements between Egypt and Israel and the one disengagement agreement between
Syria and Israel. The end of the October 1973 War left the Egyptian and Israeli
armies interlocked in the Sinai and Israeli and Syrian armies interlocked in the
Golan Heights. This provided Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who had taken
the lead role in negotiations concerning the Arab-Israeli dispute after the
October 1973 War, the opportunity to negotiate landmark agreements between
Israel and two of its Arab neighbors in the months following the war. Initial
discussions between Kissinger and Arab leaders began in November 1973 (coverage
of this is found in Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, volume XXV,
Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1973) and culminated in formal
disengagement agreements beginning in 1974. Kissinger preferred these
disengagement agreements instead of a comprehensive agreement as a way to create
a relationship between the Israelis and Egyptians and Syrians that could lead to
a future comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute. Additionally, he
argued that this more modest step-by-step approach would prevent individual
crises, such as terrorist attacks, to sidetrack negotiations. Accordingly, this
volume documents the development of this step-by-step approach beginning with
the first disengagement agreement between the Israelis and Egyptians in January
1974, the only disengagement agreement between the Israelis and Syrians in May
1974, and the second disengagement agreement between the Israelis and Egyptians
in September 1975.
This volume also documents the U.S. response to the outbreak of civil war in
Lebanon. This final chapter begins with the U.S. Government’s observation of the
war in the fall of 1975, but focuses primarily on the period after the
disintegration of the Lebanese army in March 1976, followed by the evacuation of
U.S. embassy personnel, and concludes in August 1976 with a strategy session
between Kissinger and U.S. ambassadors to the Middle East.
This volume was compiled and edited by Adam M. Howard. The volume and this press
release are available on the Office of the Historian website here. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the
U.S. Government Printing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO 044-000-02635-0; ISBN
978-0-16-082998-7), or by calling toll-free 1–866–512–1800 (D.C. area
202–512–1800).For further information, contact history@state.gov.