ROGERS PLAN

Proposal for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement put forward by American secretary of state William P. Rogers in December 1969. The plan was proposed in response to the outbreak of fighting between Israel and Egypt known as the War of Attrition (1969–70). It was also in response to Palestinian guerilla attacks across the Jordan, and to the ongoing futility of the Jarring Mission, a UN diplomatic effort begun shortly after the Arab-Israel War (1967) in an effort to realize the provisions of Security Council Resolution 242. At the same time the Nixon administration was making efforts to create a state of "détente" with the Soviet Union, which had broken off diplomatic relations with Israel over the war, and was supplying Egypt with fighter jets, missiles and other military material. The plan called for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories in return for recognition from Egypt and Jordan; like Resolution 242, it did not make specific reference to Palestinian rights but only called generally for a just solution to "the refugee problem."

Earlier in 1969 Rogers had made similar proposals in private discussions with Israel's ambassador, Yitzhak Rabin and prime minister, Golda Meir, without success, and the proposals had also been submitted for discussion with the Soviet Union, which had not responded by December. The plan was not met with favor by Egypt, Jordan or the other Arab states, none of whom wished to deal directly with Israel, but wanted to see a UN-imposed solution forcing Israel to evacuate the occupied territories in accordance with Resolution 242. Late in December the Rogers Plan was rejected by Israel, on the grounds that it would "prejudice the chances of establishing peace" by harming "Israel's sovereign rights and security in the drafting of the resolutions concerning refugees and the status of Jerusalem, and contain no actual obligation of the Arab States to put a stop to the hostile activities of the sabotage and terror organizations." Israel, which had already incorporated East Jerusalem and was establishing settlements in the Jordan Valley and elsewhere in the West Bank under the Allon Plan, was essentially rejecting the provisions of Resolution 242. At the same time, the United States continued to press Israel and Egypt to commit to a ceasefire, and one was agreed to in August 1970. The Palestinian guerrilla activities in Jordan, and the efforts by that country's government to control them, eventually led to the events of Black September 1970.

SEE ALSO Allon Plan;Arab-Israel War (1967);Black September 1970;Jarring Mission;Meir, Golda;Rabin, Yitzhak;Resolution 242.