Friday, September 25, 1981 11

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

AWACS Decision Rests on Saudi 'Problem'

The Wall Street Journal's
Sept. 16 edition ran the fol-
lowing' editorial item in its
"Review and Outlook" sec-
tion, under the headline
"The Saudi Problem":
"The great AWACS de-
bate now starting on
Capitol. Hill is being cast as
a popularity contest, demo-
cratic and Jewish Israel
versus oil-rich and Arab
Saudi Arabia. This is pro-
foundly unfortunate, for it
obscures what seems to us
the central issue in the sale,
which is not the Israeli
problem but the Saudi prob-
lem.
"Suppose for a moment
that Israel didn't exist.
Suppose Lord Balfour had
declared that the Jewish
homeland would be in
Arizona or Wales. Then
consider anew the facts of
the AWACS sale: Here is an
airplane so advanced and
sophisticated we have never
sold it outright to any other
nation, using it in NATO
only with joint command re-

lationships.
"This plane is now being
flown over Saudi Arabia by
the U.S. Air Force, the
American presence having
been invited by the Saudis
at the outset of the Iraq-Iran
war. The Saudis come to us
saying, in the interest of de-
fending the oil fields, we
would like to buy the
airplanes so that we can
send the American crews
home, or at least keep the
American technicians on
the ground.
"With or without Israel, it
seems to us there is a. small
question or two: How does
this better protect the oil
fields? And how does this
advance American inter-
ests? What do we get out of
it?
"The Administration and
other proponents of the sale
generally fail to address
these questions, under-
standably preferring to tilt
with Menahem Begin over
whether U.S. policy ought
to hinge on the Arab threat

Weizmann U. Program
Assisting Young Scientists

to Israel. But to the extent
there is an answer, it is that
the sale is a special favor in-
tended to shore up the
leader of the 'Arab moder-
ates.
"Precisely what makes
the Saudis so moderate,
however, is never quite
clear. To a lot of people it
has to do with oil prices. The
Saudis are selling us oil at
only 15 times the price of a
decade ago, but they have
kept their quotes below the
rest of OPEC. This is widely
regarded, especially the
Aramco partners who have
profited from the arrange-
ment, as a political favor to
the. West.

But the dominant
member of a cartel always
undersells the other mem-
bers. As the oil glut spreads
and the OPEC price comes
under pressure, it becomes
more evident than ever that
the Saudi price has little to
do with politics and every-
thing to do with profit
maximizing. They set the
price of their oil in their own
interest, and will continue
to do so with or without
AWACS.
In politics, the Saudis
are Arab moderates be-
cause, unlike Libya or Iraq,
they don't invade their Is-
lamic neighbors. And, of
course, because they talk an
anti-Soviet line. But like
the Soviets they supply
money and rhethrical sup-
port to the terrorist Pales-
tine Liberation Organiza-
tion. "At the time of Camp
David, they cast their lot
against Egypt's President
Sadat, an Arab leader who
acts as well as talks pro-
Western. In doing this they
also undermined U.S. pol-
icy.
"For that matter, in 1973
they singled out the U.S. as
the object of an oil embargo.
Better, surely, to have a
Saudi Arabia led by the
House of Saud than by a
fundamentalist mullah or a
Marxist colonel. But this is
not a special friend to whom
the U.S. owes great favors.
"Nothing here is to say
that the U.S. ought to write
off Saudi Arabia. To the
contrary, we should seek a
closer relationship, built on
our mutual interest in de-
fending the oil fields. But
this the Saudis have re-
sisted, not allowing access
rights' to their bases, let
alone following the Egyp-
tian example of conducting
joint exercises with our
rapid deployment force.
"If, perish the thought,
the AWACS detected a
Soviet airborn thrust at the
oil fields, on what forces
would they call? The Saudis
have always wanted the
U.S. to defend them, but to
remain 6,000 miles away.
The great sorrow of the
AWAC sale is that we mis-
sed an Opportunity to make
them 'lace geographical

REHOVOT — Informs- -velop into specialized
tion leading to the reversal cells— such as liver, skin,
muscle — that carry out
of infertility as well as to the
strictly defined tasks.
development of safe new
contraceptives may be the
Two other new chairs in
outcome of research on the
the biological sciences are
mechanism of oocyte (egg held by cell biplogists. Dr.
cell) development now Israel Zanbar — who exam-
being undertaken by Dr.
ines the basic principles un-
Nava Dekel of the Weiz- derlying immunity to infec-
mann Institute's Hormone
tions — occupies the Elaine
Research Department.
Blond Career Development
Dr. Dekel and dozens of Chair, established by Mrs.
other promising young Is-
Blond of London. Mrs.
raeli scientists might have Blond is the aunt of the in-
stitute's Board Chairman
been deprived of the oppor-
tunity to do important re-
Lord Bieff of Brimpton.
search — and do it in their
The holder of the Delta
own country — had it not Career Development Chair,
been for the institute's established recently by Is-
career development chair rael's Delta Textiles Li-
program. Initiated six years mited, is Dr. Dov Zippori,
ago by institute President who focuses on the possibil-
Prof. Michael Seta, this pro- ity that leukemia may re-
gram — within the sult from changes occurring
framework of which 35 in the tissue environment
chairs now exist — is de-
that houses the developing
signed to provide support blood cells, rather than from
for a number of carefully- changes in the blood cells
selected scientists who
themselves.
have just completed their
Two recent chairs are in
doctoral or post-doctoral
the area of biophysics-
studies and are now in the
biochemistry. Dr. Vivian
most formative period of Teichberg is the incumbent
of the Mark Stanley Shriro
their careers.
The Charles H. Revson
Career Development Chair,
Foundation has provided a established by Shriro of
career development chair France. The Swiss-born sci-
for Dekel as it has for nine entist is using his skill in
other young scientists at the
biochemistry and
institute. Among those enzymology to study the
given a Revson Chair this molecular basis of pain,
year is Dr. Zvi Naor, also of while Dr. Yacov Klein —
the hormone research de-
holder of the Victor Erlich
partment, who concentrates Career Development Chair,
on the peptide hormones established by the late Dr.
that are released by the
Erlich, a student and later a
brain and regulate sexual colleague of Dr. Chaim
Weizmann — is in the field
function.
Yet another member of of polymer physics.
In physics, the Ruth Eps-
That department, U.S.-
thorn Cynthia Webb, is tein Recu Career Develop-
ment Chair has been made
The incumbent of the
Pauline Recanati Career possible by the late Mrs.
Development Chair in Recu. Incumbent Dr. Amos
Hardy of the electronics de-
Immunology, established
"The' whole episode, in
this year by the Ralli partment is investigating
fact, wa'S mishandled from
Foundation of Geneva in aspects of the laser beam.
the
first. In retrospect, the
honor of Mrs. Recanati of
Contention is like fire; for Saudis Should have been of-
:London. Dr. Webb is con-
long
as
there
is
fered
their choice of two op-
!cerned with what factor both bucaso.
cliuses undifferentiated - any exhatigibte Matter to 0 tions:aloint command rela-;
WACS or
tionshiPt:
for
the'
ex pwry,bbi e

the outright purchase of the
E-2C., a similar but less
capable plane we have sold
to other nations, including -
Israel.
"Instead, they were more
or less promised the plane
by the Joint Chiefs in the
lame-duck days of the Car-
ter administraion, and this
decision was ratified by the
Reagan Administration be-
fore it had even filled its
staff. In short, the
homework was never done.
"By now the security is-
sues involved have been
overtaken by questions of
saving face — for the
Saudis, for Mr. Reagan, for
Mr. Begin. Amid the tumult
there is a very real problem
of how to defend
the Persian Gulf, but no one
seems to notice. Not the
Saudis and not the Reagan
Administration."

ORT students recently vi-
sited the Terra Santa School
in Acre and were the guests
of a number of Arab families
there as part of a project to

draw Arab and Jewish
youths together. In recipro-
Cation, Arab students paid a
visit to the ORT school in
Kiryat Motzkin.

PA Y 7 - STA Y 7 7

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