REAGAN PLAN (1982)

Plan for Arab–Israeli peace.

On 1 September 1982, U.S. president Ronald Reagan issued a policy statement in the wake of Israel's June 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the successful expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its estimated 15,000 fighters from that country, following extensive mediation by U.S. special envoy Philip Habib. In his speech Reagan expressed satisfaction that Lebanon's troubles were over and turned his attention to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Citing the Camp David Accords as its basis, the Reagan plan called for Arab recognition of Israel and negotiations over control of an undivided Jerusalem. The plan ruled out Israeli sovereignty or permanent control of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as an independent Palestinian state, favoring instead a confederation between Jordan and the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin rejected the plan and reiterated Israel's claim to the West Bank; Arab leaders were less categorical but hardly enthusiastic. The assassination of Lebanese president-elect Bashir Jumayyil two weeks later, the massacre of Palestinian civilians at Sabra and Shatila, the hasty return of U.S. Marines to Beirut, and an ongoing deterioration of the Lebanese situation refocused U.S. attention on Lebanon, however, and the Reagan Plan for Palestinian-Israeli peace fell by the wayside.

see also camp david accords (1978); habib, philip charles; reagan, ronald; sabra and shatila massacres.

Bibliography

Eisenberg, Laura Zittrain, and Caplan, Neil. Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, and Possibilities. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.

Quandt, William B. Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Shultz, George. P. Turmoil and Triumph: My Years As Secretary of State. New York: Scribner's, 1993.

laura zittrain eisenberg