Friday, January 12, 1919 39

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Political Reality vs. Morality in Foreign Policy

By ALON BEN-MEIR
ST. LOUIS — Almost
even years have passed
since the Vietnamese war
came to a sad end. After
many bloody and costly
years, the U.S. came to the
prudent conclusion that it
had no compelling reason to
be involved in Vietnam.
This sad episode in our
i history engraved an almost
obsessive fear of new U.S.
military adventures on the
American psyche. The polit-
ical realities in Vietnam
for(' he U.S. to recognize
tha
e war was futile and
that American interests
- could best be served by
bringing it to a conclusion.

Agriculture Pact
Signed by Israel,
Canada Officials

JERUSALEM (JTA) --
The Agriculture Ministers
0
, f Israel and Canada signed
an agricultural cooperation
t here.
(-pac
The signing climaxed a
week-long visit here by
Canada's Agriculture
Minister Eugene Whelan as
guest of Israel's Agriculture
Minister Ariel Sharon dur-
ing which they toured rural
areas and inspected Israel's
latest agricultural tech-
niques.
The "memorandum of
understanding" provides
for exchanges of scien-
tists and specialists, in-
cluding visits to agricul-
tural research institutes
and laboratories; organ-
ization of bilateral sym-
posia on topics of mutual
interest; exchanges of
scientific and technical
information and de-
velopment of joint re-
search projects.
The two ministers also
agreed to set up a joint ag-
-zicultural committee com-
prising senior officials of
their two departments to
meet alternatively in Israel
and Canada. The
memorandum also provides
that delegations and indi-
viduals visiting either
country under the terms of
the memorandum "will pay
their own expenses, includ-
ing travel . . ."

-

Marriages

Debra L. Foxman and
Steve M. Hamer were
= married in a recent cere-
, mor at the Labor Zionist
Inite. Rabbi Martin
GO Min of the Livonia
Jewish Congregation of-
ficiated. The bride is the
daughter of Mr., and Mrs.
Marvin Foxman of Livonia.
Parents of the bridegroom
are Mr. and Mrs. Herbert
Hamer of Southfield.
Cheryl Foxman was her sis-
ter's maid of honor. Brides-
maids were Ilene Foxman,
sister of the bride, and
Kathleen Ensroth. Allen
7 Hamer was his brother's
best man. Ushers were
Kevin Zucker and Michael
Benson. Following a Florida
honeymoon, the couple will
reside in Southfield.

When political necessity
confronted moral commit-
ment, the latter gave way.
Taiwan is another un-
fortunate example. There
is little doubt that it was a
mistake for the U.S. to
have pursued a two-
China policy. A few years
after the Communist
takeover in China, it was
evident that Taiwan's
political future was be-
coming increasingly pre-
carious.
The U.S., however, con-
tinued its support of the
Chiang Kai Shek govern-
ment by entering into a
mutual defense treaty wtih
Taiwan and expressing an
"unequivocal" moral com-
mitment to the preservation
of the political integrity and
independence of the island.
Here, too, the political
realities have been con-
stantly changing. The grow-
ing international impor-
tance of mainland China
can no longer be ignored.
The People's Republic of
China, with a population of
over 900 million, can offer
the United States a variety
of opportunities in trade,
investments, and cultural
exchanges and, of course, by
playing the Chinese card,
the U.S. hopes to gain con-
siderable leverage with the
Soviet Union.
Once again political
realism was opposed to
moral commitment and the
latter had to be com-
promised.
The destructive impact
of the normalization of
relations between the
U.S. and China is not in
the normalization itself,
for such a development
was not only unavoidable
but desirable. The issue
that concerns us here is
how normalization will
be viewed by the interna-
tional community and
how countries dependent
on the U.S. for political,
economic and moral
support will perceive this
development at this par-
ticular time.
Israel is a case in point.
For more than 30 years, the
U.S. has demonstrated con-
sistent support of Israel
both in bilateral relations
and in the international
arena. While U.S. officials
continue to proclaim un-
equivocal support for Is-
rael's security, there is
growing skepticism among
Israelis about the real value
of American guarantees
when seen in the light of
what the Arab states have
to offer the U.S.: 130 million
Arabs supported by more
than 300 million Muslims,
occupying territories more
than 500 times the size of
Israel.
It is estimated that while
trade and investment with
China could reach as high
as $600 billion by 1985, the
Arab states offer a potential
of at least half that amount.
A sagging economy, trade
deficits, a devalued dollar,
inflation, and a potential
recession are bound to
influence — as they have al-
ready — American foreign
policy in the Middle East.

The Arab states are
acutely aware of their
potential and have demon-
strated a shrewd and consis-
tent appreciation of Ameri-
can weaknesses. By waving
the investment carrot and
weilding the oil price stick,
the oil Arabs have per-
suaded the U.S. to reassess
its policies toward Israel.
The fact that Israel has been
viewed as a fellow democ-
racy and that the Western
community still has a guilty
conscience about the plight
of the Jews no longer have
the same effect, especially
when compared to hard core
economic realities.
Americans, including
the Jewish community,
who are committed to
moral values, may slow
the process of a deter-
iorating American com-
mitment to Israel, but in
the final analysis moral-
ity will bend because it is
a flexible commodity
compared with the
near-universal obsession
with and dependence on
material goods and re-
sources.
For the average Israeli
the normalization of
relations between the U.S.
and China at the expense of
Taiwan at the time of sensi-
tive negotiations between
Israel and Egypt, is nothing
less than a slap in the face.
The abrogation of the de-
fense treaty with Taiwan,
which has left the island
practically' defenseless
when compared with the
military might of Red
China, manifests a moral

Engagements

Mr. and Mrs. Corwin
Matlock of Williamsville,
N.Y., announce the
engagement of their daugh-
ter, Nancy Jane Matlock,
to Michael Bruce Lucow,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Milton
Lucow of West Bloomfield.
Miss Matlock earned a BA
degree from the College of
Wooster and an MLS degree
from Simmons College. Her
fiance earned a BA degree
from Williams College and
an EdM degree in counsel-
ing psychology from Boston
University. An April wed-
ding in Williamsville is
planned.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. Herman V.
Kasoff of Southfield an-
nounce the engagement of
their daughter, Peggy
Ilene Kasoff, to Glenn
Michael Phillips. A winter
wedding is planned.
* * *
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond
Meola of Grosse Pointe
Woods announce the
engagement of their daugh-
ter, Debra E. Meola, to
David A. Striks, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Sobol of
Southfield and the late Dr.
Gilbert Striks. Miss Meola
is a senior at Western
Michigan University and
was elected to Kappa Delta
Pi Honor Society in Educa-
tion. Her fiance earned a BS
degree from Grand Valley
State College. A summer
wedding is planned.

decay in American foreign
policy which makes
m
a moc-
kery of the whole concept of
President Carter's "human
rights" policy.
This is precisely how the
Israelis and many other
small powers that depend
on the American security
blanket feel today. The con-
demnation of the U.S. by the
Israeli parliament may not
have been precipitated by
the mutual recognition of
China and the U.S. Yet
there is no doubt that the
Israelis have grown increas-
ingly unhappy with U.S.
conduct in the Egyptian-
Israeli negotiations, which
seems to have tilted clearly
in favor of Egypt under
Saudi pressure.
The U.S. must refrain
from ever giving the im-
pression of having taken the
Arab side. Such an attitude
would merely stiffen both
sides. Israel's sense of isola-
tion would necessarily har-
den its position, and the
Arabs' realization that
changing political realities
are in their favor (and that
the U.S. is held captive to
these realities) would offer
no compelling reason for
flexibility.
In this light, if the
U.S.-China normalization
of relations was designed
to distract attention from
recent failures in the
Middle , East, it is quite
doubtful that Carter will
reap such a net gain.
Rather, the credibility of
American commitments
must fall into question:
Who will be next in line?
South Korea? Israel?
Normalization is an ac-
ceptable option, but the

MACK PITT
ORCHESTRA

questions of when, how, and
at what price should be
carefully considered. Unfor-
tunately, in this case the
timing was wrong, the
method was wrong and the
price was much too high.

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