In its reaction, the government of Israel stated clearly that the joint statement did not mention the expression peace treaty, it also failed to mention Resolutions 242 and 338 which served as the basis for the 1973 Geneva Conference. Israel felt that the statement, which however did spell out in detail the subjects for discussion in Geneva, would only harden the position of the Arab states. Israel felt that the statement was ill-timed and would only make the peacemaking process more difficult. For its part, Egypt felt that the introduction of the Soviets into the peacemaking process was contrary to the policy pursued by the U.S. since the end of the Yom Kippur War when it encouraged Israel and Egypt to move towards peace in a series of bilateral interim agreement, achieved through U.S. mediation without any Soviet participation in the process. Text of the Israeli statement:
1. The Soviet Union's demand for Israel to withdraw to the 4 June 1967 lines, which contradicts the real meaning of Security Council Resolution 242, is known to all.
2. Although the United States and Israel Governments agreed on 19 July 1977 that the purpose of the negotiations at Geneva is "an overall peace settlement that will find expression in a peace treaty," the expression "peace treaty" is not mentioned at all in the Soviet-American statement.
3. There is no reference in the statement to Resolutions 242 and 338, despite the fact that until now the United States has repeatedly stated that these resolutions constitute the sole basis for the convening of the Geneva Conference.
4. There can be no doubt that this statement, published at a time when discussions are being held regarding the convening of the Geneva Conference, must necessarily have the effect of hardening even more the positions of the Arab countries, and of making the peacemaking process in the Middle East more difficult.
5. As the Prime Minister has stated, Israel will continue to strive for free and open negotiations with its neighbors, aimed at achieving the signing of peace treaties with them.