Israel lifts secrecy on documents of negotiations with Syria in 1974

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli State Archives announced Friday the publication of dozens of secret documents from negotiations between Israel and Syria 50 years ago that were mediated by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The Israel State Archives, a unit under the Prime Minister's Office, issued an additional publication that summarized “the Yom Kippur War: The Golda Meir Government and the Negotiations on the Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria, January-May 1974.”

It noted that the publication includes approximately 40 documents from the Archives' collections, including minutes of government meetings during the period of negotiations, which were recently opened for study.

The documents relate to the mediation by Kissinger between then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

“In October 1973, talks were begun with Egypt; exchanges of (prisoners of war) POWs with Egypt were carried out in November,” said the Archives.

“Kissinger was interested in overseeing the next stage in the talks – separation of forces. Indeed, he sought to take advantage of the situation to advance broader diplomatic measures and displace the Soviets from their position as the main supporters of the Arab states.

“In the Separation of Forces Agreement with Egypt, which was signed in January 1974, Israel agreed, for the first time, to withdraw from areas it occupied in 1967,” it said.​​​​​​​

Israel State Archives reported the negotiations with Syria “were much tougher and led to an agreement only at the end of May, approximately six months after the end of the war.”

“The documents also give expression to the war of attrition in Syria, the infiltration of terrorist organizations from Lebanon, including the attack in Ma'alot, the talks and correspondence between the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State, and the Israeli response to American pressure,” noted the Archives.

“The agreement, which the Government approved unanimously, and which afterwards was passed by the Knesset, was signed on May 31 in Geneva,” it said. “A ceasefire took effect the same day. The wounded POWs were returned to Israel the following day. On June 3, Yitzhak Rabin presented his government.”

The Egyptian Ministry of Defense published, through its website, in February, documents under the title: October 1973 War Documents - Secrets of the War.

The documents shed light on the secrets of the war, starting from the June 1967 war that resulted in Israel's occupation of Sinai (eastern Egypt), through to strategic military planning.

In October 1973, Egypt and Syria fought against Israel in what is known in Egypt as the October War, or the Liberation War in Syria, or Yom Kippur -- the Jewish holy day of atonement in Israel, to liberate the Syrian Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula from Israeli forces.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala