ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the specific, but more conjectural, question of the war's effect on the status of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The demands placed upon the Palestinians by the imperatives of their strategy were intensified by the Israeli counterinsurgency effort and environmental realities. In addition to the effective Israeli counterinsurgency program, chronic disunity prevented the fedayeen from devising a coherent organizational scheme and strategy. The foreign policies of the Arab states were affected profoundly by the October War and its diplomatic aftermath. Although the Israeli government adopted a generally conservative policy towards the question of the Palestinians between 1967 and 1973, there were varying degrees of flexibility within its broad framework. The reasons for Israel's retraction must remain a matter of speculation. In addition to a more discriminating political-military strategy, there are other measures Israel might contemplate in order to foster a more favorable climate for discussions.