Purely Commentary: Analysis 300 Stiidents EXploring Aniericana
JERUSALEM—Interest in Ameri- which can be comprehensively
can
studies at the Hebrew Univer- studied only by understanding the
of Israel's Right to Armed
sity of Jerusalem is mounting and U.S. community at large.
in only two years, since the depart-
With the rapid expansion of
ment of American studies was
Recourse: Anticipatory Defense established
in fall 1965, the num- the department's activities, Jacob
(Continued from Page 2)
"Anticipatory self defense can-
and bombers, than they had in 1 not be self-evidently excluded. It
1956. If all the Israelis had to do becomes a question of prudentia
in 1967 was to duplicate their judgment, on the part of the na
earlier feats in Sinai, they might tional decision maker in th e
have run into tougher opposition, threatened state and the third
but they probably could have party observer, as to the reason
broken the blockade by capturing ableness of a response to a threat
Sharm el-Sheikh. However, such a as distinguished from an arme d
limited ground action, with tactical attack. One cannot escape th e
air support, would have left Israel necessity of interpreting the event s
open to retaliation by UAR offen- of late May and early June. Nasse r
sive weapons on Israel's cities — and the other Arab leaders ha d
an unacceptable risk and price what they wanted after May 14
for victory in Sinai. Thus, the only but it is not clear that a state o f
really feasible form of self-defense satiation would have long endured
— if self-defense was justified — Would extremist elements, both
was to precede a Sinai attack, and within and outside the Syrian
perhaps attacks against sources of government, have remained satis-
fied? The "on to Tel Aviv" hysteria
terrorism in Syria and Jordan, fi
with a devastating first strike instigated by the governmental
agencies of many Arab states
against the Egyptian Air Force.
might eventually have been un-
"This controversial offensive was controllable. Israeli and Arab
launched under the following con- forces, no longer separated in Sinai
ditions: (1) Repeated declarations by UNEF and already engaged in
by Arab leaders that war would recurring clashes along the Syrian
come and that Israel would be and Jordanian borders, might have
eliminated. (2) Psychological war- ignited an all-out war in the
fare by which Arab leaders at- Middle East. Ahmad Shukairy's
tempted to instill in their peoples militant PLO might well have
a spirit of violence and hatred taken action to implement his fiery
against Israel. (3) Serious meas- threats.
ures of economic warfare, chiefly
"If history establishes that an
the blockade of the Strait of Tiran attack on Israel was imminent, two
and the Gulf of Aqaba and the explanations come to mind. One
continuing exclusion of Israeli and would be that the Arab hatred of
Israel-bound ships from the Suez Israel had become so strong that
Canal. (4) A clear and present the 'holy war' of annihilation, so
danger of hostilities erupting be- long postponed by Nasser, was
tween regular and irregular Arab inevitable and imminent. Another
forces and Israeli forces, no longer
separated by UNEF. The Israelis explanation might be that Egypt
certainly feared that such hosti- had learned a lesson in 1956 about
lities might start with devastating the effectiveness of first strikes,
that the Israelis would
attacks on vulnerable population realized
consider
the closing of the Gulf
centers.
of Aqaba a casus bell, and knew,
therefore, that Israel would launch
a first strike. If this was Nasser's
reasoning, he would certainly plan
an Arab pre-emptive first strike
against Israel. Arab intentions and
plans may have involved elements
of either or both rationales.
"Whatever history produces by
way of facts and interpretations,
it is my belief that the carefully
planned, perfectly executed attack
by Israel on June 5 was not a
response to an armed attack by
the Arab nations, in the sense of
the Communist attack on South
Korea in 1950. Rather, it was a
calculated act of anticipatory self-
Achieve a true plastic finish with
defense against an imminent threat
of Arab military attack, preceded
this super Latex paint. Use it on
by concerted coercion through the
all your interior work, just one
use of nonmilitary instruments of
coat does the job. No offensive
foreign policy, much of which was
odor while painting, yet in just
violative of international law and
30 minutes you can move oil your
destructive to the peaceful status
quo that had obtained for 10 years.
"Given these considerations, I
find the Israeli recourse to armed
force in anticipatory self-defense
reasonable, the more so since the
means used combined sound mili-
tary science with concern for the
laws of war by concentrating on
military targets. Indeed, had Jor-
dan not rushed into the conflict in
populous Jerusalem, the war would
have been fought almost entirely
on a counterforce basis because
the Israeli knockout strikes were
directed at Egyptian airforce bases
and the site of the principal battles
was the barren wastes of the Sinai
desert."
In its entirety, O'Brien's argu-
ment is an admonition against Is-
rael's condemnation and it repre-
sents another of the long appeals
to the Arabs to come to terms
with Israel, to establish peace in
their own benefit, to end conflicts
that only lead to festering and in-
creased dangers.
furnishings back and the room
This, in fact, is the combined
is perfectly dry. 300 modern dec-
thesis of the entire collection of
orator nonfade colors to choose
"Orbis" articles. They represent a
from. Surface is not only washable
great contribution to an under-
—it's scrubbable. Simply clean up
standing of the Middle East's
with water.
anomalies and to the obligation to
See Yellow Pages 1051-1052 strive for an end to the struggles
which are certain to be recurring
for dealer nearest you.
unless Israel's enemies learn the
futility of the conflicts.
ber of students participating in
courses on American subjects has
increased by 100 per cent and today
totals 300.
Chairman of the department is
Prof. Jehoshua Arieli, James G.
McDonald associate professor of
modern history, named after the
first U.S. ambassador to Israel.
Prof. Arieli recently has returned
to the Hebrew University after a
five-month stay as fellow of the
Warren Center for Study of
American History at Harvard Uni-
versity.
"One has to study American his-
tory in order to understand our
century in which the U.S. has had
such a powerful influence," Prof.
Arieli said in a comment on his
field of teaching. He added that
the department of American
studies, unlike those of other
humanistic studies, is necessarily
oriented to the contemporary
scene. According to Prof. Arieli,
the U.S. is in focus because, un-
like other Western countries, it has
reached cultural and political ma-
turity only in this century, and
the student body in Israel is in-
tensely aware of the U.S. as
prototypical of modern life and the
problems of modern society.
Turning to Jewish aspects, Prof.
Arieli said that the Israeli students
realize the decisive role which
America plays in the Diaspora
and the particular features of
the American - Jewish community
Blaustein of Baltimore has de-
cided to establish the Blaustein
Center for American Studies to
provide the necessary facilities.
MORIS HUPPERT
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