Begin comments on the possibility of the Government returning to the Jarring talks. Doing this, without the Soviet missiles removed from the Suez Canal zone, will strengthen the Moscow-Cairo relationship. He concludes that Israel wants peace and returning to the Jarring talks will encourage Israel’s Arab neighbors to destroy her. There needs to be free negotiations between the countries themselves.
Begin shares Gahal’s plan for peace, with its main objective preserving the peace of the nation of Israel, not only for his generation, but also for future generations. The plan for peace must involve mutual recognition, direct negotiations, a historical truth that Jewish people have the eternal right to their homeland, and no partition of the land. Additionally, there must be no threat of aggression and an obligation to prevent existence of hostile organizations. Begin believes that Gahal’s plan for peace has the combination of security and peace. Without this combination, there will be constant bloodshed and a threat to Israel’s existence. He reflects on the increase of aliyah, which has made Jabotinsky’s dream of having a Jewish majority in the region come true. He also discusses the cycle Jews have been in for all their history: Rising and falling. He concludes that Israel will stop the cycle at rising and therefore, Jews will no longer fall.
Begin argues against Moshe Dayan for wanting to renew the Jarring talks. However, Begin first criticizes Dayan for criticizing Gahal during the Labor Party’s internal electioneering campaign. Begin shares different possible reasons why Dayan inappropriately brought up Gahal. Then Begin refocuses on Dayan’s support for renewing the Jarring talks. Begin goes into detail about Dayan flip-flopping in regards to his perspective on the Jarring talks. Begin shows that initially, Dayan was strongly against the talks. For example, two years ago he threatened to leave the Cabinet if the Jarring talks were not suspended. Begin plays out what will happen with the renewal of the talks. He says “the talks will break up or we will retreat further.” Begin does not see either of these options ending the war. Begin ends by writing he strongly supports a peace treaty through direct negotiations.
Begin argues that the West Bank should remain part of Israel. He first shares alternatives to his belief regarding what to do with the West Bank. The first alternative is to give the land to Jordan, and the second is to give the land to the Palestinians. He argues that both alternatives will threaten Israel’s security because both believe in the full liberation of Palestine, which means Israel would no longer exist. Even if there is a peace agreement, Begin does not trust that the agreement will be upheld. His distrust partially comes from the recent situation where Egypt violated the agreed upon freeze. He argues that it is absurd that one should be identified as “Palestinian” in one city, but in another city one would be identified as “Arab.” He then says that if they are all Arab, and living in Israel, they will have freedom, equality and progress. In closing he argues that not keeping the West Bank will both segregate Arabs and threaten Israel’s safety.
Begin focuses on the actions of the Israeli Government, which caused Gahal to leave the Government. In regard to Rogers initiative, the Government at first rejected it, and then later accepted it. Begin mentions that the U.S. State Department ignored the Government’s amendments and claimed that Israel had accepted the original Rogers initiative. This original led to Resolution 242. Even though the Israeli Government had previously rejected some of the notions in the Rogers initiative, they paradoxically made the decision to work towards accomplishing this resolution. Begin explains that Gahal could not be part of a Government that accepted such initiative because it completely went against both Gahal’s platform for “no partition” and the accepted Government policy of peace treaties being achieved through direct negotiations. In the conclusion, Begin focuses on the danger Israel faces from its neighbors as a result of the Government accepting the Rogers initiative.
