ABSTRACT
The deployment of United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) represented an international decision to stabilize the armistice, while forestalling Lester Pearson's more ambitious plan to move beyond policing a cease-fire. Two key differences bedeviled the relationship. The first was the Israeli doctrine that the armistice agreement with Egypt was no longer operative. The other issue, latent for long stretches but never absent from the troubled relationship, was Jerusalem's refusal to accept UNEF forces on its territory. Political and strategic considerations, particularly about Arab reaction to the assurances, impelled Washington to strengthen United Nations authority in policing the Arab-Israeli borders and enforcing a restored armistice. Israel was compelled by the world community to return to the status quo ante bellum with its flawed armistice arrangements. The United Nations would be relied on to maintain border tranquillity through its peacekeepers and "could be used to keep up the pressure on the parties" for a solution to particular problems.
