Negotiating Principles from Anwar Sadat

WORDS LAUNDRY:
A SHORT GUIDE TO THOSE OBSESSED WITH PEACE Professor Moshe Sharon September 2007
“Everybody says that his donkey is a horse . ” “There is no tax on words . ” (Two Arab proverbs)

On December 25, 1977, at the very beginning of the negotiations between Israel and Egypt in Ismailia , I had the opportunity to have a short discussion with Muhammad Anwar Sadat the president of Egypt . “Tell your Prime Minister, he said, that this is a bazaar; the merchandize is expensive . ” I told my Prime Minister but he failed to abide by the rules of the bazaar similar to all the Israeli governments and the media .

In the bazaar of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the two sides are not discussing the same merchandise . While the Israelis wish to acquire “peace”, the Arabs wish to annihilate the Jewish state and get rid of the Jews .

To achieve their goal, the Arabs took to the battlefield as well as to the bazaar diplomacy . The wisdom of the bazaar is that if you are clever enough you can sell nothing at a price, however in the bazaar only a foolish buyer pays for something he has never seen .

In the present situation in the Middle East and in the foreseeable future “peace” is nothing more than an empty word . Israel should stop speaking about “peace” and delete the word “peace” from its vocabulary together with such phrases as “the price of peace” or “territory for peace” . For almost a century the Jews have been ready to pay the Arabs any price for peace . They have received nothing, because the Arabs have no peace to sell .

Since this is the situation, Israel should openly declare that peace does not exist as an option in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and that if the Arabs ask for peace; they must pay for it . For unlike the Arabs, Israel has this merchandize for sale and therefore, Israel should be the side demanding payment for peace and fixing its price

Therefore, if anyone asks Israel for plans, the answer should be: “No plans, in fact no negotiations at all . ” If the Arab side wants to negotiate, let it present its plans and its “ideas” . To which the Israeli answer should always be: “Unacceptable! Come with better ones . ”

Here are ten rules for bargaining in the Middle Eastern bazaar:

1. Never be the first to suggest anything to the other side . Never show any eagerness “to conclude a deal” .


2. Always reject; disagree . Use the phrase: “Not meeting the minimum demands,” and walk away, even a hundred times .


3. Don’t rush to come up with counter-offers . Let the other side make amendments under the pressure of your total “disappointment” .


4. Have your own plan ready in full, as detailed as possible, with the red lines completely defined . However, never show this or any other plan to a third party .


5. Never change your detailed plan to meet the other side “halfway” . Remember, there is no “halfway” .


6. Never leave things unclear . Always avoid “creative phrasing” . Remember playing with words is the Arab national sport .


7. Regard every detail as a vitally important issue . Never postpone any problem “for a later occasion” . If you do so you will lose; remember that your opponent is always looking for a reason to avoid honoring agreements .


8. Emotion belongs neither in the marketplace nor at the negotiating table . Friendly words as well as outbursts of anger, holding hands and kissing, do not represent policy .


9. Beware of popular beliefs about the Arabs and the Middle East – “Arab honor” for example . Remember, you have honor too, but this has nothing to do with the issues under negotiation .


10. Always remember that the goal of all negotiations is to make a profit . You should aim at making the highest profit in real terms . Remember that every gain is an asset for the future .

To these ten rules another one should be added:

11. You should never agree to negotiate with more than one side . The Arabs will try to bring as many participants to the negotiating table to put you in an inferior position . Never agree to bring in even so called “friendly participants” . There is no such thing .

The Arabs have been practicing negotiation tactics for more than 2,000 years .

They are the masters of words, and a mine of endless patience .

In contrast, Israelis (and Westerners in general) want quick “results” .

In this part of the world there are no quick results, the hasty one always loses .


****Why does the Left everywhere believe in promises from even the most evil and lying of parties? Sometimes such people just tacitly assume that all parties want the same thing without even waiting for one of the parties to lie about it.( E.g. Peace & Justice -- the proliferation of Peace and Justice organizations is astonishing. I usually ask what they do when peace and justice are at odds; i.e. which has priority. They refuse to concede the possibility!!!! ) Then, even if agreements are reached, signed and sealed, how often does it happen that signatories proceed cheerfully to violate what has their signature? The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a salient example: North Korea, Iraq and Iran are signatories but they have paid it no attention. At least, Israel, India and Pakistan didn't sign.

Negotiating with more than one party means that you, the unitary party, will make concessions and they will be accepted by everyone. The concessions to YOU, however, have only been made by one of the participants and are easily disavowed by the others.

Then there are parties who just, and repeatedly, go back on their word, whether they renounce the prior words or not. Taqiyya is the principle that gives all Muslims the Koran-granted moral ability to lie to non-Muslims and renounce agreements with them. The present U.S. Government is willing to do the same ( and is, therefore, inherently untrustworthy ) since it renounced the agreements made by President Bush IN WRITING when Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza. It was supposed to be the stability of a democracy that, an agreement signed by one elected government must be honored by subsequent ones. Will Egypt honor its peace treaty with Israel once Mubarek is gone? Highly doubtful. And the Obama Administration for its own (Islamophilic or Judaeophobic ) reasons, has started to reduce the linkage between American aid to Egypt and the peace treaty. ****