Abba Eban, permanent representative to the UN since 1949, has from 1950 served concurrently as ambassador to the United States; in 1959, he is elected to the Knesset; he also becomes president of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Moshe Dayan is also elected to the Knesset as a member of Mapai, a party within the Israel Labor Party coalition.

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Dayan's long-time mentor, appoints him minister of agriculture.

Golda Meir has promoted the Israeli policy of assistance to the new African states aimed at enhancing diplomatic support among uncommitted nations.

Shortly after retiring from the Foreign Ministry in January 1966, she becomes secretary general of the Mapai Party and supports Levi Eshkol in intra-party conflicts.

Eban, who had served as minister of education and culture under Ben-Gurion 1960 to 1963, and as deputy prime minister in 1964-65, replaces Meir as foreign minister, stepping down steps down as president of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

As foreign minister, he seeks to strengthen relations with the United States and to bring about Israeli association with the European Economic Community.

War with Israel's Arab neighbors is imminent.

With Israel threatened with an Arab blockade, the Eshkol government, to avoid the international pressure that had forced Israel to retreat in 1956, sends Abba Eban to ...

Abba Eban cites (in "Obstacles to Autonomy," New Outlook (Tel Aviv), June/July 1982) the official "Government policy guidelines" adopted by the Knesset (by a single vote), which state "After the transition period laid down in the Camp David accords, Israel will raise its claim and will act to fulfill its rights to sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza district. (Eban's emphasis).

"There is no resource of language," he notes, "that can possibly bridge the gulf" between the decision and the Camp David Agreement, which leaves the status of the territories to be determined after the transition period by negotiations between Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and elected representatives of the inhabitants of the territories, not by Israeli actions.

George Schultz has tried throughout his years as U.S. Secretary of State to promote the peace process in the Middle East by brokering direct negotiations between Israel and the PLO.

Such talks will require the PLO to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist, but the PLO (which the Israeli ambassador Abba Eban has said "never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity") refuses to make the requisite concessions.

In February 1988, Israeli premier Yitzhak Shamir invites Shultz to intervene, but he tries in vain to revive the diplomatic process.

Meanwhile, Jordan's King Hussein has finally abandoned his formal ambition to represent the Palestinians.

Israel's international image is suffering as the media records scenes of Israeli soldiers beating young Palestinians in the street.

Frequent closures of the areas also severely disrupt the Palestinian economy, and Israel begins to replace Arab day labor with immigrant workers from outside the region.