Egypt’s Nasser said in 1970 he had ‘no interest’ in Palestinian cause, recording reveals
Audio released by Nasser’s son of conversation with Libya’s Gaddafi said to raise questions among president’s critics over his publicly militant persona
A 1970 recording of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser indicating a lack of interest in the Palestinian cause is causing a stir in Egypt, Hebrew media reported Tuesday.
“We have no interest in the Palestinian issue. We will only talk about Sinai. When [the Israelis] leave Sinai, there will be an agreement,” the president says to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the audio clip.
The recordings contradict the public persona of Nasser, who repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel in his speeches, created the Palestine Liberation Organization, led the Arab side in the 1967 Six Day War against Israel, and imprisoned hundreds of Jews after Israel’s victory.
But in the August 1970 recording — aired on his son’s YouTube channel — he showed no interest in fighting Israel.”If someone wants to struggle — let them struggle, and if someone wants to fight — let them fight. But today the Iraqis are telling us — all of Palestine from the river to the sea, or nothing.”
He seemed to think that defeating Israel in battle was a pipe dream.
“If we want to achieve our goals, we must be realistic,” he said to Gaddafi. “You are welcome to mobilize the forces, go to Baghdad, and try to fight against Israel. We will stay away from this operation, leave us alone — we will choose a non-violent and defeatist solution. I can live with that.”
A recently released bombshell recording has sparked major controversy in Egypt and the Arab world.
In 1970, former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser told Gaddafi:
"I am ready to normalize with Israel, and I have nothing to do with the Palestinian cause." pic.twitter.com/BvtGYJUn52
— Xumas (@xumas_iq) April 28, 2025
Egyptian media reports cited by Haaretz said that the recordings were in the Nasser family’s possession. The state-run Alexandria Library denied claims that they were leaked from its archives, the Haaretz daily reported.
According to the daily, supporters of Nasser in Egypt, among them his son, defended the former president, saying that the recordings show he was a serious statesman operating in a challenging reality.
Critics, however, say that the recordings shed light on the difference between his personal ideology and his public image as a militant leader.
The Walla news site reported that lawmakers in Egypt’s parliament are advocating for freedom of information legislation that would allow access to other historical recordings.
Nasser died in September 1970 from a heart attack — around a month after the recorded conversation took place.
Just a day before his death, Nasser had managed to get Jordan’s King Hussein and PLO leader Yasser Arafat to sign a ceasefire, ending a conflict known as “Black September.”
His greatest victory was nationalizing the Suez Canal in 1956, sparking a crisis in which Britain, France, and Israel prepared to attack Egypt.
After 10 days of fighting and with tensions soaring, the countries ceded and the canal reopened in 1957 under Egyptian control.
Nasser also oversaw the construction of the Aswan High Dam, inaugurated in 1964.
His greatest defeat came in June 1967 and the Six Day War, in which Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and came to control, among other territories, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Nasser was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who went on to launch the 1973 Yom Kippur War that surprised Israel and later signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1978, in which the Jewish state withdrew from the Sinai in exchange for normalized diplomatic relations with Cairo.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.