Henry A. Kissinger is a key figure in the modern history of the Middle East, and his legacy is reflected in the current war in Gaza.
One of Mr. Kissinger’s most notable contributions was his role in establishing peace between Israel and Egypt. The two nations have since cooperated in enforcing a 16-year blockade of Gaza, and in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the enclave after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel provoked a full-scale war.
Egypt, through Mr. Kissinger’s diplomacy, “went from being in the Soviet sphere of influence into the American sphere of influence,” said Bren Carlill, a spokesman for the Zionist Federation of Australia, an umbrella organization for the Australian Jewish community. “That, in my opinion, was one of, if not the greatest, Cold War victories for American foreign policy.”
After its founding in 1948, Israel fought five wars with Egypt, notably the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, also known as the Yom Kippur War, after Egypt and Syria coordinated a surprise attack on Israel over Israeli-occupied territory around the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. That was the last war between Egypt and Israel.
Mr. Kissinger, who was a Jewish refugee in his youth, facilitated intense negotiations with Israel, Egypt and its Arab allies that helped end that war. Those talks proved to be a turning point in Middle East history.
Through 33 days of traveling the region — a back-and-forth journey that was called “shuttle diplomacy” — he persuaded Israel and Egypt to begin direct talks and make significant concessions. His marathon meetings in Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus helped pave the way to the 1978 Camp David Accords, which formally ended the state of war between Israel and Egypt, helped open the path for diplomatic relations between the two countries and led to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai Peninsula.
“He never lost sight of the need to maintain equilibrium in the Middle East,” said Bilahari Kausikan, a former diplomat and chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
At home, he was a complicated figure for some in the Jewish community. In a recording that came to light in 2010, Mr. Kissinger was heard telling President Richard M. Nixon in 1973 that helping Jewish people in the Soviet Union emigrate to the United States to escape totalitarian oppression was “not an objective of American foreign policy.” Some leaders of Jewish organizations called his words “despicable,” “callous” and “shocking,” although others tempered their criticism, noting his longstanding support for Israel.
“Kissinger was a very, very proud Jew,” Dr. Carlill said. “But absolutely, primarily, especially in his professional life, he put the interests of the U.S. first, beyond his Jewish identity, beyond Israel — as was entirely appropriate.”