David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.
Brief Analysis
On June 4, 2007, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy held a symposium marking the fortieth anniversary of the June 1967 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The purpose of the symposium was to grapple with the failure of U.S.-led diplomacy on the eve of the war, exploring the period from a variety of perspectives. The following is a summary of a special conversation conducted by satellite between Institute senior fellow David Makovsky in Washington and Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal in Amman.
View a summary of the symposium, including video and audio of each session.
Speaking by satellite in an interview with Institute senior fellow David Makovsky recorded the day before the symposium, Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal recalled his own involvement in the flurry of diplomatic activity in the weeks leading up to the conflict. The brother of Jordan's King Hussein, Prince Hassan was recalled from university studies at Oxford to assist in his brothers regional diplomacy. Prince Hassan explained cross-currents of pressure that Amman faced as it contemplated an alliance with Nasser on the eve of the war. Jordanian decisionmaking, the prince said, was profoundly shaped by the growing tide of the Jordanian public's identification with Nasser.
