'Pundits Muddle M. E. Issue in the Capital

(Continued from Page 1)
barrassing to many and are re-
sented in the knowledgeable quar-
ters where it is known with cer-
tainty that Israel's best friends
often are to be found not among
members in both houses of Con-
gress who come from states with
large Jewish populations but from
remote areas where the Jewish
voters are small in numbers.
The "Jewish vote" charge has
been utilized, capitalized upon by
foreign correspondents as well as
journalistic "pundits" in this coun-
try, and the eminent British non-
Jewish scholar, Prof. A. L. Good-
hart of University College, Oxford,
was impelled to reply to charges
of "the blatant courtship of the
Jewish vote" by stating:
"The adverse influence of the
Jewish vote on American for-
eign policy has become the fa-
vorite propaganda of the Arabs
and their Russian ally, in spite
of the fact that Egypt, in partic-
ular, owes far more to Ameri-
can support than it does to that
of any other country. They do
not wish to remember that in
1956 it was the opposition of the
United States to the French and
British action at Suez which en-
abled Nasser to survive. Again,
it was the American pressure
which forced Israel to withdraw
its occupation troops from El
Arish and Sharm el Sheikh in
1957, thus returning the whole of
Sinai to Egyptian control. The
arms sent to Israel from the
United States at any time be-
fore the 1967 war were minimal
compared with the tanks and
aeroplanes sent to Egypt and
Syria by Russia. The decisive
contribution made to the Israeli
victory was not by America but
by French Mirage planes. There
is thus not a single instance in
which it can be said that "the
Jewish vote", if there is such a
thing, influenced American for-
eign policy in the Middle East.
"The great majority of Amer-
ican citizens of Jewish race,
other American citizens, have no
aggressive intentions against
any of the Arab states. Their in-
terest is peace in the Middle
East and the end of all fighting.
Mr. Ball, the American ambas-
sador to UNO, expressed• the
American view when addressing
the Security Council on August
16: 'Outrages have been com-
mitted against the Israeli popu-
lation by terrorists operating
from Jordan . . . These acts,
in our view, are clear violations
of the ceasefire which the Jor-
danian government is pledged
to uphold.' "
The fact is that Jews are to be
found in the ranks of all parties,
and the shocking revelation is that
4 per cent of American Jews are
believed to be in George Wallace's
corner. But if we have a "Jewish

Society of America"—a Jewish
Birchers Party—why should this
be considered inconceivable?
L'Affaire Fortas is far from
ended. Because of pressure to as-
certain whetter President Johnson
will decide to keep the Senate in
session by presenting another
nomination for chief justice of the
Supreme Court, he issued this
statement:
I have said that I do not be-
lieve that I can find a person
who is better qualified to suc-
ceed Chief Justice Warren in
the nation's highest judicial post
than Mr. Justice Fortas.
I deeply regret that the Senate
filibuster prevented the Senate
from voting on the nomination
of Justice Fortas. Had the Sen-
ate been permitted to vote, I
am confident that both Justice
Fortas and Judge Thornberry
would have been confirmed.
Their qualifications are indis-
putable.
In ordinary times I would feel
it my duty now to send another
name to the Senate for this high
office. I shall not do so.
These are not ordinary times.
We are threatened by an emo-
tionalism, partisanship and pre-
judice that compel us to use
great care if we are to avoid
injury to our constitutional sys-
tem.
Our distinguished Chief Jus-
tice had indicated his willingness
to serve until his successor qual-
ifies. Under the circumstances,
the foundations of government
would be better served by the
present Chief Justice remaining
until emotionalism subsides,
reason and fairness prevail.
A Detroit newspaper made much
of its "wisdom" in criticizing the
President for calling Abe Fortas
"the best qualified" — thus ruling
out a "second-fiddle" candidate —
for the high post — and that adds
significance to Mr. Johnson's ex-
planatory statement.
And because of the Fortas ex-
perience, and the scandalous ac-
tion of a group in the Senate under
the leadership of Robert Griffin,
with the assistance he finally re-
ceived from Illinois' drawler Ev
Dirksen, another current experi-
ence deserves attention. It is the
manner in which Senator Dirksen
placed page boys at the door of
the Senate chamber, advising Re-
publicans-'not to make an appear-
ance, thereby preventing an at-
tendance of 51 required for ac-
tion on the measure that was in-
troduced to assure a Humphrey-
Nixon-Wallace debate. "Hatchet
Man" was the title of an editorial
in the Washington Post which de-
clared:
The Dirksen filibuster which
has apparently killed the bill to
permit free television debates by
t h e presidential candidates
leaves an ugly smear on the Sen-
ator's record. The Senate long

Israel Disturbed by Argentina's
Cancelling of $2,500,000 Order

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

JERUSALEM—Foreign Ministry
sources expressed concern over
the cancellation of a $2,500,000
electronics order which an Israeli
firm, Tadiran, had won from the
Argentine government in competi-
tive bidding. The order was can-
celled despite the fact that Tadiran
offered the lowest price. According
to unconfirmed reports, Argentina
intends to place the order with
Philips, a Dutch manufacturer.

Swedish Jews Urge Aliya

STOCKHOLM (JTA)—The Zion-
ist Federation of Sweden has
adopted resolutions calling for in-
creased immigration to Israel and
even greater Zionist information
and educational activities in Swe-
den. Fritz Hollander was re-
elected federation president.

36—Friday, October 18, 1968

The ministry sources pointed out
that Israel's trade with Argentina
has been heavily unbalanced in
recent years in favor of the latter
country. In 1966, they said, Israel
purchased $15,000,000 worth of
goods in Argentina and sold only
$300,000 worth there. In 1967, the
balance was $10,000,000 against
$500,000 in Argentina's favor.
Israeli imports from Argentina are
almost exclusively frozen meat.
There was no indication that the
foreign ministry was considering
cancelling or reducing Israeli im-
ports but ministry sources said the
Argentine gevernment had been
approached through diplomatic
channels on action to correct the
imbalance. An Israeli commercial
exhibit which was destroyed by fire
on the Buenos Aires fair grounds
two weeks before it was to have
opened was intended to stimulate
Argentine purchases from Israel.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

ago passed a bill to relieve the
networks from the burden of giv-
ing equal time to fringe candi-
dates so that they could con-
duct debates among the real
candidates. When the House
also belately passed a similar
bill on Wednesday, it was bow-
ing to the will of the country.
The Senate should have found
a way to reconcile the two meas-
ures or, as a last resort, to ac-
cept the less desirable House
bill.
The killing of the bill by
means of a filibuster directed
by the Republican leader of the
Senate is a grave reflection
upon the GOP in general. It can
be explained only by unwilling-
ness of Republican candidate
Nixon to debate his opponents
in the race, although he had in-
dicated a willingness to meet
Mr. Humphrey on TV. It is be-
side the point that the Demo-
crats rejected a similar bill in
1964 to prevent pressure on-
President Johnson to debate
with Senator Goldwater. T w o
wrongs do not make a right.
Against the overwhelming de-
mands of the country, the Re-
publican spokesman in the Sen-
ate has used the Senate's dis-
credited stalling device to pre-
vent the public from seeing the
president candidates in direct
confrontation. It is a shocking
disservice to 70,000,000 voters,
and we suspect that they are go-
ing to let Mr. Dirksen forget
about it
The New York Times had this

editorial comment on the "Debate
Blackout":
In an about-face utterly con-
temptuous of the American
electorate, the Republican lead-
ership in the Senate has wreck-
ed the chances of a television
debate among the three Presi-
dential candidates.
The House had overwhelming-
ly approved a change in the law
to permit a Nixon - Humphrey-
Wallace debate. The Senate had
previously endorsed the idea of
a Nixon-Humphrey d e b a t e. In
both cases, Section 315 of the
Communications Act necessitat-
ing "equal time" for other min-
or candidates bad been suspend-
ed. But the Senate's delaying
action yesterday, engineered by
the Republican leader Everett
M Dirksen, killed the chances
for any sort of joint discussion,
with or without Mr. Wallace.
Does anyone believe that the
Republican Senators would have
behaved this way had not Mr.
Nixon wanted them to? Senator
Dirksen was clearly doing Mr.
Nixon's negative work for him.
The Republican candidate, who
has been as evasive on the de-
bates as on more vital matters,
no longer has to search for a
convenient cause to avoid shar-
ing a TV platform with Vice
President Humphrey.
* * *
Of interest in the current de-
veloping situation involving the
sale of Phantoms to Israel is the
claim advanced by the usually

well-informed syndicated column-
ist, Col. Robert S. Allen, that the
announcement made by President
Johnson that Phantoms would be
sold to Israel is "largely window
dressing." Allen's claim is that
since there is no time limit on
the announced sale and "as the
President has only three months
in office, it would not be too dif-
ficult for the State Department
to prolong negotiations beyond
that time."
Allen added: "The election is
one month off and on the basis
of Johnson's record on this is-
sue, the odds are against his au-
thorizing a sale."
=
Thus, our nation's capital is a
seething political cauldron and a
center affected by passionate dis-
cord. The Israel issue is not major:
the chief cause for concern is the
Presidential election. But as soon
as an issue like the one involving
Israel's s t a t u s—and security—
gains momentum, debates flare.
And while "the sense of Congress"
has influenced the President to act
to assure for Israel "an adequate
deterrent force capable of pre-
venting future Arab -aggression,"
there are enemies—within and
without—w h o threaten Israel's
position. And when friends emerge
—as so may do—they are not in-
fluenced by the "Jewish vote."
There should be a defense for
the men and women who are moti-
vated by a sense of justice. What-
ever the pundits in London or in
Cairo may say, such a regard for
justice does exist.

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