THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
iJ
Friday, April 13, 1984 9
Israel and the campaign
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States credibility in the
Arab world. United States
credibility earlier had been
shaken by the surprisingly
speedy withdrawal of U.S.
military involvement in
Lebanon so soon after Rea-
gan had pledged that the
United States would never
"bug out" of that country.
Asked whether the
United States had lost cre-
dibility as a result of its
military pullout from Leba-
non, Reagan replied: We
may have."
But he then went into a
lengthy defense of the Ad-
ministration's record in
Lebanon and the initial dis-
patch of the Marines to
serve in the multinational
peacekeeping force there.
He basically repeated
longstanding U.S. posi-
tions, without breaking any
new ground. He explained
the U.S. pullout as resulting
from the "changed situation
on the ground, especially
the Syrian refusal to leave
Lebanon. The Marines were
never sent to Lebanon as a
fighting force, he said,
merely as peacekeepers.
But once they were forced to
dig into fortified positions,
their role was changed and
there was no purpose left in
keeping them there.
He insisted the United
States was still "engaged
diplomatically" in seeking
some end to the conflict in
Lebanon. He said elements
in the Middle East — he did
not name them — had re-
cently sought stepped up
U.S. involvement in the dip-
lomatic arena.
But Reagan refused to
blame his own Administra-
tion for the clear failures in
Lebanon. Like Secretary
Shultz, Reagan blamed
Congress and its opposition
to the U.S. presence in
Lebanon as a major factor in
the setback to U.S. interests
there. The debate in Wash-
ington merely encouraged
America's adversaries in
Lebanon and Syria to resist
a diplomatic solution, con-
vinced the United States
would simply leave Leba-
non in any case.
Conversations with the
Hart and Mondale camps in
recent days have made clear
they both are prepared to
make the Middle East a
major issue in either's cam-
paign against Reagan after
the Democratic convention
in San Francisco in July.
Both Democratic candi-
dates are already preparing
lengthy papers — "talking
points" — to outline their
criticism of Reagan's record
on Israel.
Finding major areas of
difference will not be dif-
ficult. There were many
tense periods between
Washington and Jerusalem
during the first term of the
Reagan Administration,
beginning in 1981 with the
controversial Saudi
AWACS sale, the tempor-
ary suspension of fighter
aircraft deliveries and other
military equipment to Is-
rael following the destruc-
tion of the Iraqi nuclear
reactor in June of that year
and the annexation of the
Golan Heights later in De-
cember.
Naturally, the pressures
exerted on Israel during the
war in Lebanon and the re-
lease of the Sept. 1, 1982,
peace plan will also be on
the Democrats' agenda in
seeking support from Is-
rael's many friends in the
United States, especially in
those states with large
Jewish votes. Those positive
things which the Reagan
Administration has done for
Israel — the increased eco-
nomic and military assis-
tance, the enhanced
strategic and military coop-
eration and the prospects
for a free trade area be-
tween the two countries —
will not be mentioned by the
Democrats. Reagan and his
supporters will highlight
those points.
Already, Mondale has
staked out his down-the-
line support for Israel, even
telling a nationally-
televised debate that he op-
poses the concept of a Pales-
tinian "homeland" on the
West Bank and Gaza. In-
stead, Mondale, like Hart,
has pledged support for the
Camp David accords.
Mondale's impressive vic-
tory in New York this past
week was in large measure
the result of a lopsided
three-to-one margin of sup-
port over Hart in the Jewish
community there. If Mon-
dale should now go on to
capture the nomination in
July, that solid base of
Jewish support in New
York will come in very
handy.
And the pressure will
mount on Reagan to follow
the Democrat's lead by
courting the Jewish vote.
Thus, additional talk of an
"evenhanded" policy in the
Middle East is likely to end.
This will be the first year
since Israel gained inde-
pendence in 1948 that both
Israel and the United States
will hold national elections
during the same year. That
will impose special restric-
tions on both sides.
Neither, of course, wants
to interfere openly in the
domestic affairs of the
other. But each will have
some private preferences.
In Washington, for exam-
ple, there is little doubt that
the Administration would
love to see Labor return to
power in Jerusalem. A
Labor-led coalition, U.S. of-
ficials believe, will be more
responsive to U.S. concerns
in the region, especially the
need to reach out to King
Hussein by imposing an
immediate settlement
freeze on the West Bank and
Gaza.
Administration officials,
especially Reagan and
Shultz, may have some per-
sonal regard for Defense
Minister Moshe. Arens and
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir, but they sense that
a new Labor-oriented team
would be more cooperative
during a second Reagan
Administration in imple-
menting the basic thrust of
the Reagan peace plan —
namely the "association" in
some way of the West Bank
with Jordan in exchange for
real peace and iron-clad se-
curity arrangements.
Israeli officials also will
have some leanings on the
U.S. contest. Visiting Is-
raeli politicians have
warned that if the Ameri-
cans try to interfere in Is-
raeli politics in favor of
Labor, the Israeli govern-
ment will not hesitate in fol-
lowing suit vis-a-vis the
U.S. campaign.
But the Reagan people
probably will not involve
themselves in the Israeli
contest. They will be very
cautious. They face a basic
dilemma. While they would
like to see Labor win, they
don't want to upset any
further the Jewish commu-
nity in the United States in
the coming weeks and
months.
This may not have been
all that apparent at Rea-
gan's news conference, but
it will be increasingly more
underlined as the political
contest in the United States
heats up following the
nomination of the Demo-
cratic candidate.
New IDF
call-up system
Tel Aviv (JTA) — The
army has announced that a
practice mobilization will
be held shortly to test the
system by which reservists
are called to duty in an
emergency.
The date of the call-up is
never given in advance but
announcements that one is
pending are made to avoid
misinterpretation by Arab
countries. Practice call-ups,
infrequent in the past, were
held more often in 1984.
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