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30 Friday, December 19, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
CAPITOL REPORT
WOLF BLITZER
No Matter What Happens,
Iran Mess Hurt Israel
emocratic Represen-
tative Mel Levine, a
member of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee
and a strong supporter of
Israel, says that Israel's° far
has come out of the Iran arms
scandal in relatively good
shape.
"It it turns out that Israel
has fully disclosed all that it
did, and that it indeed did not
know about the funding of
the contras, and was merely
acting as an intermediary on
behalf of the U.S., I don't
think that anyone in Con-
gress will be able to question
Israel's actions," Levine said.
"This was an American
decision," he said. "Essential-
ly, it seems, Israel was trying
to do us a favor." Still, there
is a big unexpressed fear in
Levine's remarks. If it turns
out that Israel was more ac-
tively involved in trying to in-
itiate the U.S. policy and in
lobbying the U.S. to sell
weapons to Iran, Israel's im-
age on Capital Hill could real-
ly suffer.
And if some Israeli officials
were actually privy to the
funneling of the profits from
the Iran arms sales to the
contras — effectively skirting
around the wishes of Con-
gress — Israel could also pay
a heavy price.
Israel has much riding on
the outcome of this investiga-
tion. Israel has repeatedly
denied any knowledge of the
Iran-c-ontra connection. It has
insisted that it was merely
trying to help a friend in
need.
Still, no matter what the
outcome, there already has
been some damage, according
to pro-Israeli lawmakers,
American Jewish lobbyists
and Israeli officials. However,
the damage so far has been
limited. Americans are not
really focusing their attention
for the moment on the Israeli
role in the whole sordid
business.
For the time being, they are
examining President Ronald
Reagan's involvement —
what did he know and when
did he know it. A poll pub-
lished on in The New York
Times showed that a
remarkable 47 percent of the
American public believe that
Reagan is lying when he in-
sists that he knew nothing
about the contra funding
scheme. Only 37 percent
believe he is telling the truth.
The rest are undecided.
Democratic Representative
Stephen Solarz of New York,
another member of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee,
insisted that Reagan "almost
certainly" knew of the opera-
tion. There was no way that
Vice Admiral John Poindex-
ter, the National Security Ad-
viser, and Lt. Col. Oliver
North, a senior NSC staffer,
could have operated without
approval from "a higher
authority," according to
Solarz, who said he came to
this conclusion from the
testimony he had heard.
Other members of the
panel, including Republican
Michael DeWine of Ohio,
strongly rejected Solarz's
contention. But the President
is having a very tough time
explaining his role.
During the House Foreign
Affairs Committee's open
hearings, there was only
scant attention paid to Israel.
Secretary of State George
Shultz barely mentioned
Israel, as did former National
Security Adviser Robert
McFarlane. But behind closed
doors, McFarlane was much
more explicit. He confirmed
that the then-Director-
General of the Foreign Mini-
stry, David Kimche, acting on
instructions of the Israeli
government, had come to
Israel has a great
deal riding on the
outcome of the
investigation.
Israel has
repeatedly denied
any knowledge of
the Iran-contra tie.
Washington in early July
1985' to make the case for a
shift in the U.S. attitude
toward Iran, including on the
issue of arms sales to that
country.
But while anxious to secure
some strategic advantages in
a post-Khomeini Iran, the
President quickly became
obsessed with the fate of the
American hostages in
Lebanon.
According to McFarlane,
Kimche said during one
meeting that a shipment of
only 500 TOW anti-tank
missiles could result in the
release of all seven hostages.
McFarlane presented Kim-
che's case to the President
who then quickly took the ex-
traordinary decision of over-
ruling both Shultz and Secre-
tary of Defense Caspar Wein-
berger and authorized an
August 1985 Israeli transfer
of arms to Iran.
The Rev. Benjamin Weir, an
American hostage„ was re-
leased in September but the
others remained in captivity.
And by then, the CIA station
chief in Beirut, William Buck-
ley, was already believed to
have been executed by his
captors.
Meantime, the Iranians —
skilled negotiators in the
politics of the marketplace —
raised the ante. A second
Israeli shipment was author-
ized in November — again;
supposedly to be followed by
the release of all the hostages.
But the Iranians rejected and
eventually returned that ship-