THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Former astronaut Jack Lousma is trying to close the gap in the final days of the campaign.

ministration, for example,
has condemned Israel for
moving into Lebanon."
Interestingly, Lousma
and his wife visited Israel
for four days before the
Michigan primary election.
Lousma's comments on his
visit, his impressions of Is-
rael and his stand on
Israeli-American relations,
were put on paper shortly
after his return, but the
statement was apparently
not widely disseminated.
Lousma met with seven
Israeli political and mili-
tary leaders including
Minister of Trade and
Tourism Gideon Patt, Brig.
General Menachem Snir,
deputy commander of the
Israeli Air Force ("We had
mutual experience in avia-
tion and defense," ex-
plained Lousma),

Menachem Eini, project di-
rector for the highly
acclaimed Israeli Lavi
fighter plane, and the direc-
tor of Israel's space agency.
Lousma's campaign com-
mittee paid for his trip and
Lousma paid for his wife's
air fare and accommoda-
tions.
It was Lousma's first visit
to Israel. "I wish we could
have stayed longer," he
says. "We had the opportu-
nity to drive through the
West Bank and through the
Golan Heights to the border
with Lebanon. We also saw
the holy sites in Jerusalem.
My wife and I are very reli-
gious people with a strong
(religious) background and
it was enlightening to see
the places we had read
about for many years."
The trip also gave

Lousma an appreciation of
the security problems of Is-
rael's borders. He affirmed
"Israel's desire to be recog-
nized by her neighbors as a
sovereign nation just as it
recognizes the sovereignty
of other nations." This be-
came the first of five major
points which represent
Lousma's stand on Israel.
Levin has always taken a
strong position of support
for Israel: "I think that any
country that had been at-
- tacked as often as Israel had
for so many years would
have moved in to clear up
the source of the problem a
long time before Israel did.
Israel showed patience,
great patience, and yet we
condemned her at the
United Nations, we delayed
the sale of the F-16s to her,
we criticized and con-

demned her for knocking
out the nuclear reactor at
Baghdad, we sold AWACS
planes to the Saudis, as well
as offensive weapons like
the F-15s. We said we'd
never do it, but we're doing
it anyway. •
"Our Marines, when they
were injured (in Lebanon),
didn't go to Israeli hospitals
because (Secretary of De-
fense) Caspar Weinberger
shelved the strategic
agreement that we'd
entered into with Israel.
Weinberger, as far as I'm
concerned, has consistently
shown a lack of awareness
of the importance of Israel
as a strategic ally and
strategic friend in the Mid-
dle East."
Indeed, Weinberger is
seen by many political ob-
servers as the architect of
the Administration's at-
tempts to cozy up to the
Arabs while ignoring the
historic relationship be-
tween Israel and the United
States. Was September's
startling announcement of
a link-up between Libya
and Morocco further proof
of the folly of the Adminis-
tration's cultivation of so-
called moderate Arab lead-
ers like Morocco's King
Hassan?
"I don't think the Ad-
ministration knows that's
going on," replies Levin. "I
think they were caught by
surprise. We've been
caught by surprise too of-
ten, and frequently, it's be-
cause we don't speak the
language. In Iran, for in-
stance, we didn't have
enough people on the
ground to report on how un-
popular the Shah was to at
least one-third of the popu-
lation. In Cairo, we've only
got a handful of people out
of 500 employees in the em-
bassy who speak Arabic.
And that's our biggest em-
bassy in the world!"
Levin recalls that when
he was in Cairo a few years
ago to meet with then-
President Sadat, "only five
out of 500 people at the em-
bassy could speak fluent
Arabic. I mean, that's crazy!
Not to be able to speak the
language of the people! We
just don't have any feel for
what is happening on the
ground."

Friday, November 2, 1984

19

Lousma counters Levin's
experience on Middle East
issues with some strong
positions of his own on Is-
rael. He strongly supports
the Lavi aircraft as being
"necessary for Israel's air
superiority and the unique
needs of Israel's security."
On foreign aid to Israel,
Lousma advocates the "con-
tinued importance of pro-
viding Israel with sufficient
economic and military aid"
because the "security of the
free world interests in the
region depend upon it."
Another point on Lous-
ma's position paper dis-
cusses the advantages of es-
tablishing a free trade area
with Israel as proposed by
President Reagan. Lousma
says this would "help
strengthen U.S.-Israeli
economic and political ties."
But clearly it is the final
point in Lousma's man-
ifesto that is the most con-
troversial. Addressing the
question of moving the U.S.
Embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem, Lousma stated
his support for moving the
embassy at "an appropriate
time in the future."
Asked to further define
his stand, Lousma ex-
plained he "would consider
the move but I do not think
it would be the right thing
to do now. I think we ought
to wait because the situa-
tion is so sensitive in the
whole area. We need to see
more solid agreements be-
tween the countries in the
region, and on that point,
I'm optimistic. And we need
to help in that process.
It is good to see Jordan
and Egypt talking to-
gether," continued Lousma,
"and that same spirit
should be conveyed to
others. We need to work to-
gether for the security of
the whole area and to resist
the advance of Com-
munism. We need to make
the Middle East strong
against the spread of
fanaticism. The U.S. must
develop a Middle East pro-
gram that insures a strong
Israel and a stong Middle
East."
Did Lousma meet with
any Arab or Palestinian
leaders during his visit to
Israel? "I wish we had," he

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