Friday, June 15, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 19 COUP ON DOUBLE DISCOUNT CAPITOL REPORT Quality Cleaning - Save Up To 50% OFF + 10% 0 Lowest Prices In Town 0 . 0 0 Israel staying neutral C 1, On Cleaned & Pressed 0 Continued from Page 4 Israeli involvement in the Gulf. The only way the Americans might ever consider any useful Israeli role there would be if a massive U.S. military operation actually got under way. Only under such circumstances, U.S. officials said, would possible Israeli air cover, logistics support, emer- gency medical asistance and other military help be sought. But President Ronald Reagan, in the midst of a re-election campaign and badly burned from an ill-fated military adventure in Lebanon and the prospects of unpopular military activity in Central America, is not about to use American armed force in the Gulf. This is especially true in advance of a public request from Saudi Arabia and other friendly Gulf states for help and without the com- bined political, aerial and naval in- volvement of the West European and Japanese allies. In the American-Israeli talks on the Gulf which have occurred in re- cent weeks, the basic focus has been on exchanging information, with the Americans spending most of the time doing the talking. They have been briefing their Israeli counterparts on what actually is happening on the ground. U.S. officials said Israel has some excellent sources of intelligence information on much of the Arab world, but that's not so much the case in the Arabian peninsula. "When it comes to Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the PLO," an American governmental source said, "Israel rally knows what's going on. But that's not true in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf." The source said Israel relies on Washington for a great deal of what it knows about the internal scene in these countries. The Israeli Embassy in Wash- ington has a full-time diplomat as- signed to the specific task of collect- ing such information from U.S. ex- perts at the State Department, the National Security Council, the Pen- tagon and the Central Intelligence Agency. He spends virtually all of his time obtaining U.S. assessments on . the Arab world and then passing them along to Jerusalem. Israeli officials in Washington conceded that they get a tremendous amount of information from the Americans, but they still maintained that Israel does have other sources of information about Saudi Arabia. Over the years, there reportedly have even been some (but not many) clandestine contacts between high- ranking Israeli and Saudi officials in the United States, Western Europe and other countries. The other major emphasis dur- ing the U.S.-Israeli discussions on the Gulf war, of course, involves American arms transfers to Saudi z Arabia. This was highly publicized in recent weeks with the emergency transfer to the Saudis of 400 portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. Israel opposed the sale, but could do noth- ing about it since it was made under President Reagan's emergency waiver of regular congressional re- view. • In addition, Israel was hampered by the fact that it was in no mood to enter into a bitter dispute with an Administration perceived in Jerusalem as basically friendly. The Likud-led coalition government, moreover, did not want a high-profile rift with Washington on the eve of the July 23 elections in Israel. The New York Times, in reflect- ing this attitude, reported that Arens and Weinberger spent a total of two minutes discussing the Stinger sale at the tail end of their Pentagon meeting on May 30. Israel, in any case, clearly did not want to become the obstacle standing in the way of American strategy for easing the crisis in the Gulf, even if it thought the plan was off-base. An Israeli official in Washington pointed to some possible silver lin- ings for Israel in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war and the escalating ten- sions in the oil-rich Arab countries. He said that the Saudi penchant toward indecision and the general re- fusal to take a more openly- cooperative stance with the United States — despite the recent downing of two Iranian F-4 Phantonis — con- trasted sharply with Israel's solidly pro-American orientation. "Now," he said, "they have a bet- ter sense of their truly reliable allies in the region." The fact is that many American officials, even including some State Department Arabists who usually can be expected to adopt an almost knee-jerk pro-Saudi posi- tion, lately have become increasingly more fed-up with the Saudis. • Secondly, the official said the tensions in the Gulf will further push the industrialized West away from a dependence on Arab oil. The Arab oil embargo of 1973-1974 was the first phase in this.trend. "That was a real shock;" he said. "Now, there's a sec- ond shock." The hoped-for result of course, will be a lesser dependence on Arab oil supplies which could be expected to result in fewer .anti-Israeli pres- sures in the future. In the meantime, there is a crisis atmosphere in the Reagan Adminis- tration as officials explore options in the Gulf war. The U.S. and its allies do indeed have important national interests in the region. But for Israel, the matter is still a -relative sideshow. Israel is monitoring the scene, but is certainly not agonizing over it Paid In Advance Orders SLACKS $ 1.58 when paid in advance SUTTON PLACE DRYCLEANER 23119 Lahser at 9 Mile Coupon good to 6-30-84 COUPON Every Imaginable Style of DESIGNER TABLE' Buy Direct From The Factory At WHOLESALE PRICES! Choose from hundreds of decorator colors. Bring a picture, or draw it yourself, and we'll build your table — exactly the size, color & style you want! Buy from the source your decorator uses! ONLY A FEW SHOWN HERE! DOZENS MORE AT UNBEATABLE PRICES! Parsons Table Cube Table 30x 30 16" $93 Quarter Round 24 x 24x 21" 111 37 Triangle Table 24 x 24 x 34" $ 1 44 48 x 14x25" $115 Cylinder Table 24" x 16" $1 1 7 Radius Comer Cube Panel End Table 24x24x21" n wi rer 48 x 14x25" • vit. n it Computer Desk Waterfall Table 60x 24 x26" $ 146 48x24.28"$285 ASK ABOUT OUR WALL SYSTEMS & CUSTOM KITCHEN CABINETS! "The Table People"! Call or Visit... KITCHENS, Etc. • 353•7110 FACTORY: 21421 HILLTOP • Unit 13 • SOMIIHELD, Ml 48034