Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 596 › Conversation 596-005

Nixon White House recording on Arab-Israeli conflict and Middle East diplomacy

Tuesday, October 19, 1971 · 12:14 PM–12:15 PM ET · Oval Office · 1 min

Participants[Unknown person(s)]Conversation596-005 on Tape 596 (tape position 02:04:26–02:05:37)StartTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 12:14 PMEndTuesday, October 19, 1971 at 12:15 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 596-005 ↗

AI Summary

Unnamed participants discuss the ongoing diplomatic stalemate in the Arab-Israeli conflict, specifically focusing on the intractable disagreement over territorial withdrawal and secure borders. The conversation highlights the fundamental tension between the Arab demand for full Israeli withdrawal and Israel’s insistence on maintaining strategic boundaries. The dialogue reflects a concern that the lack of progress on these core issues increases the likelihood of renewed hostilities.

Arab-Israeli conflict
Middle East diplomacy
territorial withdrawal
national security
international relations

Audio

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This clip was extracted from the full tape recording by Easy Nixon.

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Position in tape: 02:04:26 – 02:05:37

part B, 2:08

596a.mp3

596b.mp3

NARA Description

On October 19, 1971, unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:14 pm to 12:15 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 596-005 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 596-5

Date: October 19, 1971

Time: 12:14 pm - 12:15 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown people met.

     [Unintelligible]

The unknown people left at 12:15 pm.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

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since they can't take the whole step, they take half a step, and half a step would mean the Suez, and the other thing, but that should be done first, and then go on after that to the next step, but to, that's where it's, it's about to come on, where it takes a little bit of work on.

It is, it's not a distinct one, it's not a matter of whether that's religious, it's not a thing.

I think that the dialogue problem is not really as great as it once was, because there was a time when they didn't talk to each other.

They did a little talking.

But really, it gets down to the fundamental points, too.

Withdrawal.

I mean, the Arabs say that Israel must withdraw from all the occupied territory.

Israel says, no, we will only withdraw from some because we've got to have secure borders.

And so the Arabs said, well, if you don't do that, then we've got to be at war with you if you can get out.

That's what's coming up at the present time.

So somewhere in between, there's an answer there, where Israel can have its secure borders.

But at the same time, where there has to be some withdrawal, too.

Also recorded on October 19, 1971

596-006 12:15 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Alexander M. Haig, Jr. met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:15 pm and 12:17 pm.
596-007 12:17 PM · 21 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:17 pm to 12:18 pm.
596-008 12:23 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:23 pm.
596-009 12:23 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at 12:23 pm.
596-023 12:23 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. V. Meares, Sylvia Lawry, Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., White House photographer, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:23 pm and 12:30 pm.
596-010 12:30 PM · 24 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 12:30 pm and 12:31 pm.
596-011 12:31 PM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Stephen B. Bull, Ross Tomkins, Charlton (Rink) ("Rink") Reynders, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 12:31 pm to 12:33 pm.
080-003 12:33 PM · 11 min — Stephen B. Bull and unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 12:33 pm and 11:59 pm.

All 95 conversations from October 19, 1971 →

Nixon, Al Saud & Sowayel on Arab-Israeli conflict and Saudi-US relations September 21, 1971 · 35 min
Nixon, Haldeman & Kissinger on Foreign policy and National security November 16, 1971 · 1 hr 23 min
Nixon, Agnew & Rogers on Foreign Aid and National Security May 1, 1973 · 1 hr 37 min
Nixon, Al Saud & Sabbaugh on Middle East policy and Saudi-U.S. relations May 27, 1971 · 1 hr 2 min
Nixon, Ismail & Ghanem on Middle East conflict and Arab-Israeli conflict February 23, 1973 · 1 hr 7 min
Nixon, Ziegler & Kissinger on Arab-Israeli conflict and US-Israeli relations March 1, 1973 · 1 hr 38 min

Cite this conversation

Conversation 596-005, October 19, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/596-005 (accessed November 12, 2026).