Rearguard Action
This chapter discusses the events of the time when Sadat addressed the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem. His determination to pursue his diplomatic initiative shattered the PLO strategy of balancing relations with Egypt and Syria while cultivating a political dialogue with the US, and threatened to take Palestinian and Arab divisions to breaking point. The characteristic response was to attempt to play all sides and prevaricate in the hope that a change of circumstances would enable the PLO to resume its original strategy. To pursue this course required a greater degree of internal control than ever before, however, the more so if the mainstream leadership was to resist political intervention by Arab states. Consequently, the period following Sadat's visit to Jerusalem was one of political flux and military tension in the Palestinian arena, as it was throughout Lebanon and in the wider region.
Keywords: Sadat, Israeli Knesset, Jerusalem, PLO, Lebanon
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