ABSTRACT
In 1982 Ronald Reagan set forth his own Middle East peace initiative. On September 2, 1982, two days after Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasir Arafat had fled from Beirut, Reagan announced his new Middle East peace plan. The plan can be seen as evidence of Reagan's anxiety about the Soviet threat in region and his broader concerns about the global decline of US power in the 1970s. On September 1, 1982, Reagan made public his new Middle East peace initiative. Calling for a "fresh start" in the peace process, president invited "all those directly concerned to get involved—or lend their support—to a workable basis for peace". In an emergency session of September 2, Israeli government unanimously rejected the Reagan proposal on the grounds that it seriously deviated from Camp David agreement. The most sensitive points for Menachem Begin government were Reagan's call to apply Resolution 242 on all fronts and to decide the final status of Jerusalem through negotiations.
