The Geneva Peace Conference of 1973 was held from December 21, 1973 to December 22 [1] or December 29 of that year [2] or to January 9, 1974 [3] in Geneva ( Switzerland ). The conference was attended by representatives of Israel , Egypt and Jordan , as well as mediators from the USA and the USSR and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim . Not having achieved significant progress in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict , the conference nevertheless played a historical role as the fact of the first multilateral contacts of its participants with the support of the USA and the USSR.
Content
Conference Background
UN Security Council resolution 338 , which resulted in a ceasefire in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war , simultaneously called on the parties to the conflict to begin immediate negotiations on its settlement “under the appropriate auspices” [4] . As part of the implementation of this resolution, as well as UN Security Council resolution 242 , adopted in November 1967, members of the Security Council gathered for a closed meeting on December 15, 1973, which resulted in the authorization to hold a peace conference in Geneva. Official support for the conference was enshrined in UNSC resolution 344 [3] .
Conference Progress
The conference was attended by the heads of diplomatic departments of three of the countries participating in the conflict: Abba Even (Israel), Ismail Fahmi (Egypt) and Zayd al-Rifai (Jordan). The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim , acted as the representative of the sponsoring party, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Andrei Gromyko and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger became the co-chairs of the conference [2] . The Palestine Liberation Organization was not represented at the conference, the program of which at that time included a clause on the destruction of Israel, which excluded the possibility of contacts with its members from representatives of Israel or the US [3] . Sources indicate various reasons for not attending a Syrian conference. According to one version, the Syrians refused to participate in solidarity with the Palestinians not represented on it [2] [3] ; according to another, Israel vetoed its participation in connection with the unconventional treatment of Syrians with prisoners of war [4] .
Despite the hope expressed in resolution 344 for rapid progress in the matter of “peaceful and equitable regulation of the Middle East conflict” [5] , the absence of representatives of the Palestinian side at the conference virtually ruled out the possibility of reaching any significant agreements. In addition, the relations between the parties remained so hostile that the representatives of the Arab countries and Israel did not communicate directly with each other, forcing Waldheim and the delegates from the USA and the USSR to serve as a transmission link in the negotiations. As a result, no significant progress was made at the conference itself. However, the fact of its convocation was symbolic, as this was the first meeting at the same table of negotiations between the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict with the participation of the USA and the USSR [3] . In addition, during the conference, agreements were reached on the creation of working groups on specific issues [4] . In particular, it was decided to form a military working group, which should solve the issue of separation of forces [1] .
Consequences
At the beginning of 1974, bilateral Israeli-Egyptian and Israeli-Syrian agreements on the separation of forces were reached [2] . Kurt Waldheim in this regard praised the role of the UN in stabilizing Israeli-Egyptian relations [6] . The Geneva Conference also laid the foundations for subsequent US-Egyptian contacts [7] and active "shuttle diplomacy" by Secretary of State Kissinger, which ultimately led Egyptian President Sadat to be ready to make peace with Israel through US mediation [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Al Ahmad, 2015 , p. 127.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Geneva Peace Conference (1973) . The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Interactive Database . ECF Date of treatment December 18, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Pierpaoli, 2008 , p. 389.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Kumaraswamy, 2009 .
- ↑ Al Ahmad, 2015 , p. 124.
- ↑ Al Ahmad, 2015 , p. 128.
- ↑ Pierpaoli, 2008 , p. 390
Literature
- Kumaraswamy PR Geneva Conference (1973) // The A to Z of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. - Scarecrow Press, 2009. - P. 92. - (The A to Z Guide Series). - ISBN 978-0-8108-7015-4 .
- Pierpaoli PG Geneva Peace Conference // The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History / Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.). - ABC-CLIO, 2008 .-- Vol. I: AH. - P. 389-390. - ISBN 978-1-85109-842-2 .
- Al Ahmad A. Kh. Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East 1973 // Role of the UN in the international legal settlement of the Middle East conflict. The dissertation for the degree of candidate of legal sciences. - Kazan: Kazan (Volga) Federal University, 2015 .-- S. 122-134.
Links
- Geneva Peace Conference (1973) . The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An Interactive Database . ECF Date of treatment December 18, 2018.