An Interview with Hafez Assad

Q. Would it make Israel disappear or shrink?

A. It would neither enlarge nor reduce Israel. It should offer advice to both sides, not deal with guns, planes or billions of dollars, or, if it does, [it should do so] evenhandedly. Why should the American taxpayer pay billions to Israel and not pay similar amounts to the Arabs? Why should he like some people and dislike others?

Q. The American taxpayer doesn't dislike the Arabs. He believes Israel should receive help in order to survive in a world where it is surrounded by enemies.

A. To make the American taxpayer know who the aggressor is, it is enough to publish maps of Palestine in 1940, 1948, 1956, 1967 and now, to see how Israel expanded. He will conclude that the Arabs, not Israel, need weapons and money to defend themselves.

Q. Do you see a danger of war between Syria and Israel?

A. There are no signs of the possibility of immediate war. But the continued occupation of Arab territory remains a constant cause of tension.

Q. It required a strongly anti-Communist American President like Richard Nixon to make peace with China. Now there is a strongly anti-Communist President, Mr. Reagan, who is trying to make peace with the Soviets. It is said that it might require a strongly anti-Israeli [Arab] President like you to make peace with Israel. Is this possible?

A. Neither the Soviet Union nor the U.S. occupies part of the other's territory, and this decreases the obstacles between them. In our case, our land is occupied. It is difficult to bargain about national territory. The Israelis must withdraw from the occupied territories.