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'~re
you prepared
to make peacewith us?"
lntervoew woth Gideon Hausner
Only
'""'
dtJys aftu
tlo~
colk>psc
•1
H•"'Y
Ki#int''~
fN""na/
diplonoocy
m
th•
Mid·
easr,
Plain Trulh
<orrespondenr
In J•nu41em,
Mark Armstron$> obtained an inttnltw wlth
nottd lsraeli Ql/orn-ey. outltor and pclltltal
figure, Oitl•on lfousner.
Mr.
IIOrlJntr
wa.r
th~
protecutlng
auDrney
•1
Adolf Eichmann and author of
Justoce in
Jerusalem.
11•
ú
toda
y
a
~ct<d
ond influ·
tntio.I!Mm"'ofth~
lvoeli
go~mmtnl
Q:
Mr. Hausner, bow
do
you view che
brakdown
ol
Hcmy
Kissinga's
~uons?
A:
l'm
M>tT'J
!he negotiAtions brote
down.
1
1lunk our appiOlCb was
rC~M>nable,
con·
colia10ry. We were preparcd for
a
far·teac:h·
tna compromise. The Prime Minister
[Rabon) al che very opcn.ing or the negol.ia.
tloos Jaid the t·erritories were no problem,
and Ibis is nol really che crux of che problem.
The problem is whelbet 1be Arab$ willreally
accept pe.ace as the natural cond.ition
be~
twecn us and them
....
If thei.rs is the :uti·
tude of comple1e refusal of aoceptance or
facu and refusal 10 aocept • .• thc ..istence
of Israel ao matte:r
what
boundaries, tben
or
course chere is little prospect for aay other
ell'ort.
Q:
The c¡uesuon
i.s.
oow, wbcre does Israel
go
from here? Are you
in
favor of an early
resumplion
or
the Geneva confercnce?
A: 1
never thougl\1 that Ocneva could be
or should be, for lhat matter, avoidcd.
1
tllink 1ba1 Oeneva offers
an
oppottunity for
a large·scale arrangement. Only 1 wanted 10
put che OeneYQ talks io10 tbe proper per·
spective and the propcr
mood
by baving the
Kusmger miuion suc:cecd.. Bocausc then !he
wbole rnomcntvmwould move in tbis direc–
tooo. Now that bis mission failed,
l'm
not
M>
sure of the diroction of the Geneva
talb.
Without tbe propcr preparatioo -!he
proce·
dure and !he mode of
progrcss -
Oeneva
standa Hule cbance.
In
Oeneva we will first and foremost pul
the problem to the Arabs: "No matter whcre
the boundaries will ruo, supposing they run
to your satisfactioo, ale you preparcd 10
make peaoo: wilh us?" Bccause
if
they are
noc. chen il's no
use
10
cliscw:s
boundaries
and lines.
Tbis
will be lhe aucial problem.
Q:
Wbat role wouJd the Palestini.ans play
a.t0e-neV11?
A:
The
trouble
is
that tbe Palestinians
as
such. have no voiee. Tberc are sclf...anoinled
spcakers who assume the role 10 spcak for
tho Pal.,tinians. Th.Sc are lhe bomb throw·
....
Q:
Willlsrael ever deal with Yaulr Arafat
orthePLO?
WEEK
ENDINO APRIL
19,
l91S
A:
Israel
will deal with Arabs who aocept
1he fact of hcr existence. Oealong Wllh some·
one wbo
says
you should disappcar from lhe
face of the earth makes no sense. Wbat is
there 10deal with?
Q:
Thcrc has been much spcculation of
pressure from the United Sta•es on Israel 10
be
more ftexible. There are recent reports
from WasbingiOa of American reasscssmen1
of Middle East policy.
Do
you think lhere
are any circwns&a.nccs which could oonceiv·
ably
cause
tbe United States 10 drastically
decrease its program of supporting Israel?
A: First of
aJI.
1
,.'Ouldn't like 10
use
the
general 1erm of"pressure."
1
hopc 1hat chere
are still basic goals, ideas. and intereSIS
OOm·
mon 10 the United States a nd 10 Israel. Tlús
is wha1 has brought about American support
so far. Since tbcsC ba.sic goals, interesl$, aod
ideas coolinue as lhe problcm eontinue:s, 1
bopc lhe assistance will ao on.
Q:
Do
you feel war
ls
imminent?
A:
1
wouldn't say lhat, bul by way or
preparation 1
tbinlt
we llave 10 be ready for
u. For two reasons
t
don't
think
it's
imm.i·
nenL
First
of
aJI, 1
beueve
Iba•
Arab.rulus
in
their bearts
l::now
that they cannot
win
that
war. Aad secondly they also know that it wdl
not
advance
them an
aneh
forward.
So
if
tbere
is
sliU any reasoning in lhis area, and
people are not carned away by lheir own
emorionaJ outbursts, lhen there should be .no
war.
o
Europe ShouldActas
Micteast Peace
"Co-guarantor": Brandt
WASHINGTON, March 27, 1975, Reu·
ter: Formcr West Gennan Ch.an<cUor WiUy
Braodt said here today a final Middle Eas1
settlement must be
a
JOin• responsibility of
tbe United States aod tbc Soviet Union.
He also urgcd "more Wes1ero Europcan
intcrest
in a.nd
even enpgemcnt
in
the
arca."
Mr. Braodt
wu
spcalans •• che Natio.W
Press Club followin&
a
mectiog at the Wbite
House with President Pord and Secretary of
S tate Henry Kissingcr.
Mr. Brand! said the most probable new
oourse seemed 10
be
to n1ove to a recon·
vened Gencva conference.
He expressed the be(ief that "whatever is
dooe in berween. dnally there musl be
a
co–
responsibility of botb world powers
10
briog
abqut a pea.ce settlemcnL
M
Recommeoding more Westem
Ewopcan
intercst
in
tbe area. be said:
~h
is
out.side our
door. h
in8
u.ences
u.s
in
a most dirtct
way....
lf
and
wbco a peace .seuleme:at
has
made some progress.
or
the
draft
of
it,
Eu–
ropc should play che role oftomething like
a
co~guarantor.
"But
wbat is more important
is
to in–
troduce a possible oew element of stability
which would
be
Europea.n readioess
&o
entcr
into economic projecc.s whích may intcre.st
Israel as
well
as ber Arab aeighbors."
Askcd
if
be believed the inJiueooe ·of tbe
United States were in decline, be appcarcd
10
disagrec:
with tbe Ford administration's
argumcnt that
if
<;ongress rcfuacd any fur·
ther military aid
10
lndochina, lhis oounuys
image abroad would sull'er.
The
crcdibility
of the Uni ted Statcs would nol be reduced as·
far as Oennan rtlt\tions were concemed. be
added.
O
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia
1906-1975
Tlo•
follo...,lng biography of Sa•dl Arabia'>
lote rulu,
Ki~tg
Fai:ral,lsexcllrprtdfrom
Reu–
ter's new.J
sttnfcc
dispotches.
Bom the son of ao obscuro desert sheikh
in
1906,
Faisal
rose
to coaltOI tbe fate and
fortuae of Westem industry. Whea be was
bom, oil had not yet been dlliCOvercd in
ArabiA. aod 1ndecd lhe Saudi l<ingdom and
Israel were but dreams
in
tbe miada or
strOn¡·willed
m
en
in
thc sandy
expanses.
of
the Arabiao península aod in sopbisticatcd
central Europe.
Arabia was
io
land of sucb desolalion and
a usterity thal only three Europeaos were
known
to
have pencttated ils interior in the
previous
centu:ry.
Before he
was
70, Faisal· lbn Abdul A%i%
AJ~Saud
- bis
namc
mcans ..swordn
in
Ara·
b.ao - wieldcd inllue.oce far beyond 1hc
Aiabtan
p<llll!JuiL
As kceper or Soudi
Arab•a's miUions or barreis of
o~.
his iD·
nucnce touchcd ocarly every human bein&
-
from the lndustrialists and thc1r wortcers
in
Europc and lhe Unilcd Statcs to tbe
c:iti·
zc:ns of the developing
tbird
world..
A
devout Moslem,
Faisal leamed lo
live
and rule in auSlerity
as
lhe laws of Islam a nd
the tribe commanded, tbrough a COm·
bination of fallh and personal autocracy. At
tbt same time. hi.s faith rn.ade him both anti–
Zlooist and anti-Commuo.ist toa Jevel wbere
he sc:ara:ly distinguisbcd between the two.
As
a
reipina monarch, he abborred botb
the atbeism ofcommuo.ism and !he polotical
threat it pcmd by
encouraging
revolutionary
movemencs.
As suardiao of lstam's two holiest places,
Mcdina, wbere Mohammed is buried and
Mocea, be was implacable in demanding
1ha1 Jerusalem, tslam's third holíest
&htine.
be retumed 10 A.rab administration.
King Faisal 1\ad deep persqnal, religious
fCilOfU
for
bis
adamanl
Stand
00
Jerusa.Jem..
As he aged, be disdosed that be wantcd 10
pray
at
Jerusal~'s
Dome of the Rock
Mosc¡ue, buih on tbe spot wbere, accord¡og
to
Arab legeod, Mobammcd ua:ndcd in10
bcavcn.
Oo the domeslie
fron~
Saudi Arabia -
under Faisal's guidaoce - made a gadual
tra.nsition
rrom a
Nomadic tribal
socicty
to
a
modero state. A buge l<rriiOry of
927,000
sc¡uare miles, it h.as a populatlon ofsome
S.1
mUJlon peop!•·
The oil boom is likely 10 alter lhe king·
dom _lotally.
A.•
the Saudis assume complete
ownCrsbip oftheit oil wealth, oew towns are.
being planocd, wells dug, hospitals and
S<bools
are being built along with roads and
better communlcat.ion
racil.ities.
...
Duriog lhc 0.:10ber
1m
Arab-lsraeli
War, Faisal used bl$ oil resources as a
po–
tcat
politieal
wcapoa agalnst
lstaeJ.
A
founding membet or !he Organizatioo
o(
Pctrolcum
Expontng
Countñes.
Saudi
Arabia
slowed
down its oil
output
.and
in·
ereased oil pnoes, sevcrely dislocating the
eoonomies o(the West.
Faisal was a shrewd, sophisticated rulcr
whose lined faee with ilS hawk nose and
booded eycs iCidom seemed 10 smile. Sincc
ascending the chrone 10 replace
bis
deposcd
brolher
in
November
1964,
he fa<cd lhc
daunting problem of rulin¡ suictly by the
ordinanoes of the Koran, Moslem's Holy
Book -
he
did
oot smol<e and akohol is
forbidden
in
Soudi Arabia - in ao-inaeas–
ingly
ma~alistie
and 1echnicaJ world.
Allhough detennined lhat all his pcople
mus-t benefit, Faiul remajned an absolute
monarch and showed no sign of waaliog to
chango 10 what thc WeSt understaods
as a
more dem,ocratic society.
Faisal was the royal head of sorne
3,000
Saudi princes aod
2.000
ro,Yal women from
four gcneratiotls. Faosal h•mself had cigln
M>DS
aod
six
daughters by four wives, two of
wbom he divorccd many yean
la~r.
and
aoother dicd.
He consultcd seruor princes and tribal
ebic.fs oo importan! maners but made
aiJ
important decisions himself. His powcr,
basically patemalisuc and tribal. was
un·
hampercd by the trappings of Westem de·
mocracy. H,.c: was his own Pñme Ministet
and Foreign Minister.
In
a land reputed to be full ofgold·plated
Caclillacs (the gold in fact covers the bump·
ers, !he olher
-paru
are nonnally cbromed)
be bad
no
8eet of limousines. He traveled
wilh only
a
small suard
and
frec¡uently sat in
tbe front seat alons wotb bis driver.
Consideriog
bis
ímmense wcalth aod
po–
litical weight,
Kin&
Flisal apparently said
linle publicly at bis meetings with othcr
Arab lcadc.rs.
One of bis favorite proverbs was: ....God
gave roan two ears '"d one
toogue
so we
could listen twice as mucb as we ta.lk."' O
5