In the last days of the Yom Kippur War and the week after, Gazit, as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, stood at the Israeli end of the cable channel between Golda Meir’s office and the embassy in Washington. The cables of Ambassador Simcha Dinitz and Minister Mordechai Shalev were addressed to him, and through him the office sent out positions, instructions and reports. The historian Hagai Tsoref, who studied the cables opened to the public in 2022, traces this role day by day.
On 19 October, as it became clear that a ceasefire was near and Kissinger was about to fly to Moscow, Gazit set out Israel’s position in a cable to Dinitz: “It is vital in our view that this terrible war should not end merely in a dubious ceasefire. We are striving to enter negotiations and to achieve peace treaties” (in the site’s translation). According to Tsoref, this was the government’s position, and it held something new: a readiness to speak of full peace, not only of step-by-step arrangements. The next day he also reported to Dinitz on the developing oil crisis.
On 22 October Kissinger arrived directly from Moscow. After fifteen minutes alone with Golda Meir in Herzliya, Gazit and Kissinger’s aide Peter Rodman joined the conversation, and Gazit later reported to Dinitz on the talks. In the days that followed, as fighting continued despite the ceasefire and the United States demanded a return to the 22 October lines, the cables setting out Israel’s position went through him: the fighting was continuing because of Egyptian violations. On the morning of 24 October, as part of his regular reports, he updated Dinitz on the fronts so that he could brief the Americans. According to the State Archives’ account, he wrote that “in general, the night was quiet on the Egyptian front” (in the site’s translation), with similar conditions on the Syrian front. The fighting had not entirely stopped that day, and the wrangling over the ceasefire was only growing sharper.
On 29 October Dinitz relayed to him Kissinger’s message that President Nixon would be glad to receive the Prime Minister. The next day, in a single day of discussions, the leadership prepared for the visit, and Gazit summarised in a cable to Dinitz the six issues Israel would raise in Washington: supplies to the encircled Third Army, the exchange of prisoners and the lifting of the naval blockade, the IDF remaining on its current lines, Israel’s proposal for an exchange of territory, clarification of what had been promised to the Soviets, and continued arms supplies. These were the issues with which the talks at the White House opened on 1 November.[TZ1][ISA24]