1968_4_arabisraelwar

UNITED STATES AND UNITED NATIONS / 165
Nasser apparently was confident that Israel, left to fend for itself, either
would have to accept the Egyptian blockade as a fait accompli, or, if it decided
to attack, would suffer defeat. To make sure, Nasser mobilized all his
reserves and sent seven more divisions into Sinai.
United States Reaction
While the declaration of the blockade may have caught Washington by
surprise, it convinced even the optimists that Egypt and Israel were on a
collision course and that a full-blown crisis was at hand. On May 23 Prime
Minister Eshkol declared that the blockade constituted "an act of aggression
against Israel" (p. 118).
On the same day, Representative Emanuel Cellar (Dem., N.Y.), read a
statement which was later signed by 110 Congressmen, warning that Egyptian
and Syrian threats against Israel made war "inevitable unless the United
States acts firmly and vigorously to prevent it." Noting that the Soviet Union
appeared to be "testing American resolve to defend the peace," the Congressmen
pledged their "fullest support to measures which must be taken by the
Administration" to demonstrate that "we are now prepared to take whatever
action may be necessary to resist aggression against Israel and to preserve
the peace."
That evening President Johnson warned on nationwide television that "the
purported closing of the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping" added "a new
and very grave dimension to the Middle East crisis." He explained:
The United States considers the gulf to be an international waterway and feels
that a blockade of Israeli shipping is illegal and potentially disastrous to the
cause of peace. The right of free innocent passage of the international waterway
is a vital interest of the entire international community.
Since it was not yet established that Egypt had in fact taken action to enforce
its proclaimed blockade, President Johnson's remark, "the United States
is seeking clarification on this point," left the door open for Egypt to back
down. Addressing himself to the leaders of all the nations of the Middle East,
he reaffirmed "that the United States is firmly committed to the support of
the political independence and territorial integrity of all the nations of that
area. The United States strongly opposes aggression by anyone in the area,
in any form, overt or clandestine." In an apparent allusion to Vietnam, Johnson
declared that "we have always opposed—and we oppose in other parts of
the world at this very moment—the efforts of other nations to resolve their
problems by the aggression route. We shall continue to do so."
President Johnson outlined no specific course of action other than calling
on all concerned to "observe in a spirit of restraint their solemn responsibilities"
under the UN Charter and the Armistice Agreements. He mentioned
that he had been in close touch with Ambassador Goldberg at the UN, where
"we are now pursuing the matter with great vigor, and we hope that the
Security Council can and will act effectively."