A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

November 29:

After completing two days of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir—who was accompanied to the U.S. by Defense Minister Moshe Arens—President Reagan announced that the U.S. and Israel had agreed to establish a "joint political-military group to examine ways to enhance U.S.-Israeli cooperation." Mr. Reagan said the group "will give priority attention to the threat to our mutual interest posed by increased Soviet involvement in the Middle East. Among the specific areas to be considered are combined planning, joint exercises and requirements for prepositioning U.S. equipment in Israel." Included in the agreements were U.S. pledges to increase the amount of military aid to Israel which does not have to be repaid, resume shipments of cluster-bomb artillery, and to negotiate an accord on reciprocal duty-free trade.

November 29:

A senior Reagan Administration official said that the new U.S.-Israel agreement on strategic cooperation was intended to be "a message to Syria and the Soviets" but that it was "not a threat to the Arabs."

November 30:

A letter from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia was delivered to President Reagan by the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who said upon leaving the White House: "We strongly believe that Israel is a strategic liability to America, not an asset, and their behavior in the past has not improved by good will gestures from this country (the U.S.)." The letter contained Saudi assurances that Syria was still committed to withdrawing its troops from Lebanon.

December 1:

President Reagan, after a White House meeting with President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon, said: "We stand by the May 17 agreement (between Lebanon and Israel) as the best and most viable basis for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon." President Gemayel came to Washington seeking to modify the terms of the agreement—an objective which had been authorized by all of Lebanon's factional leaders during their "reconciliation conference" in Geneva in early November.

December 1:

King Hussein of Jordan made the following remarks about the new strategic cooperation measures agreed to by the U.S. and Israel: "We see these developments as a kind of 'reward' to Israel for its rejection of the Reagan plan of 1982, its continued settlement activities in the occupied territories and the continued presence of its occupying forces in southern Lebanon." He added: "This is, as far as we are concerned, totally dismaying, and affects adversely the credibility of the United States in the area."

December 2:

Secretary of State George Shultz said at the conclusions of President Amin Gemayel's visit to Washington that the U.S. and Lebanon had agreed to set up joint economic and military committees to provide "more structure and coherence" to their efforts aimed at unifying Lebanon and effecting the withdrawal of all foreign forces. Mr. Shultz did not specify the functions each committee would perform.

December 3:

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that the new joint military planning and cooperation between the U.S. and Israel "will anger moderate countries in the region, countries that have good ties and relations with the United States."

December 4:

A force of 28 U.S. warplanes bombed Syrian army positions located in an area approximately 10 to 20 miles east of Beirut. Two American planes, containing three pilots, were shot down and another plane was slightly damaged. One pilot was killed, another was injured and taken prisoner by Syria, and the third pilot parachuted to safety. President Reagan said the bombing raid was in response to Syria's "unprovoked attack" December 3 on U.S. planes flying reconnaissance missions over Lebanon. In that attack, Syria fired antiaircraft and surface-to-air missiles at U.S. jets which were reconnoitering some of the same Syrian positions which had been bombed by Israeli jets earlier that same day—but did not hit any of the planes. The retaliatory raid on Syrian positions marked the first time U.S. aircraft have been used in combat in the Middle East.

December 4:

Following the U.S. bombing attack on Syrian forces in Lebanon, U.S. marine positions at the Beirut airport came under heavy artillery, rocket, and mortar fire from Druze-held areas. The attack lasted more than four hours and left eight marines dead. A spokesman for the marines said U.S. troops responded with artillery and tank fire, and later with guns fired from U.S. warships off the coast.

December 5:

The Soviet Union, in a statement by its official press agency Tass, "resolutely condemned" the U.S. bombing raid on Syrian positions in Lebanon of December 4 and warned that "the U.S. government ought to be aware of the fact that the U.S. armed interference in Lebanon, the aggressive actions of the U.S.A. against Syria, constitute a serious threat to peace in the Middle East, and not only in that region."

December 5:

Asked if the U.S., because of its attacks on Syrian forces in Lebanon, was itself becoming a party to the conflict, Secretary of State George Shultz replied: "We are not there contending with anybody...We have returned fire to those who have fired at us in terms of the places from which they have fired. We don't say we're firing at this or that country or faction. We returned fire to the source of fire."

December 5:

One more U.S. marine died from injuries suffered in the terrorist bombing of the U.S. marine compound last October 23, bringing to 240 the total number of American servicemen killed as a result of the explosion.

December 7:

Syria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Farouk al-Charaa, said: "The release of the prisoner of war"—a reference to Lt. Robert Goodman, the American pilot captured by Syria December 4 during a U.S. bombing raid on its positions in Lebanon—"very much depends on the development of relations between Syria and the United States." Syrian Defense Minister Lieut. Gen. Mustapha Tlas had said on December 5 that Lt. Goodman would be released when the "war" is over.