COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS THOMAS E. MORGAN, Pennsylvania, Chairman CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI, Wisconsin WAYNE L. HAYS, Ohio L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina WILLIAM S. MAILLIARD, California EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois ROY J. BULLOCK, Staff Administrator Ohio* SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE NEAR EAST L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina JOHN S. MONAGAN, Connecticut LESTER L. WOLFF, New York JONATHAN B. BINGHAM, New York ROY A. TAYLOR, North Carolina JAMES G. FULTON, Pennsylvania* JOHN BUCHANAN, Alabama* MICHAEL H. VAN DUSEN, Subcommittee Staff Consultant LOUISE O'BRIEN, Staff Assistant *Congressman Buchanan became ranking minority member of the subcommittee following the death of Congressman Fulton on October 6, 1971. Congressman Whalen was appointed on October 26, 1971, to fill the vacancy on the committee. (II) PREFACE In addition to the numerous hearings during 1971 in which the Subcommittee on the Near East heard the testimony of Government and private witnesses, the subcommittee held one session to hear testimony from five Congressmen who had visited Israel and the United Arab Republic during the early months of 1971. It is important that Members of Congress have the opportunity to benefit from the foreign study missions their colleagues make. Not only did the subcommittee profit from the observations made by Messrs. Bingham, Wolff, Halpern, Rosenthal, and Long, but we were able to learn about the views of a broad spectrum of opinion in both Israel and Egypt. During their journeys, the Congressmen received counsel from U.S. Embassy personnel, met with heads of state and several cabinet officials and also were able to get a feel for the mood of the people. It was heartening to hear that, in this time of an uneasy ceasefire and of neither war nor peace, people in both Israel and Egypt want peace, want to coexist, and the views of many leaders reflect these feelings. While these observations were recorded in May of 1971, they remain relevant today. The remarks made in this hearing form a useful complement to what is known about the ongoing negotiations for both an interim and final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I recommend this record to my colleagues. LEE H. HAMILTON, |