IS ISRAEL
TOO
INDEPENDENT?

On the eve of the 39th anniversary
of Jewish statehood critics charge
that recent Israeli actions have
seriously jeopardized American
good will But others assert that
the $3 billion in U.S aid to Israel
is a bargain.

HELEN DAVIS

Special to The Jewish News

In the past year or so, there has
erusalem — Israel, according to
her critics, has given new been a stream of allegations,
meaning to the phrase "biting judiciously leaked to the media by of-
ficials in Washington, which have had
the hand that feeds you?'
Consider: Relations between the cumulative effect of showing
Washington and Jerusalem have Israel to be, at the very least, a fickle
never been closer or more cordial than ally indeed.
Israel has been charged with il-
since the birth of the Reagan ad-
legally acquiring nuclear triggering
ministration six years ago.
Israel has benefited from a devices and with the outright theft of
generous measure of economic aid, classified U.S. technology for produc-
military hardware, political ing cluster bombs — technology that
understanding, intelligence sharing Washington had specifically
withheld.
and diplomatic support.
More recently, there were the
How ungracious, then, has been
damaging allegations about Israel's
Jerusalem's response.
pivotal role in the Iran arms affair
and, of course, in the Jonathan
Pollard spy scandal.
Such conduct, say Israel's critics
at home and abroad, is unbecoming
of the Jewish state. It is an unworthy
demonatration of infidelity towards a
trusted friend; an ungrateful response
to a generous ally; a foolhardy — and
perilous — slap in the face to a super-
power protector.
Has Israel, ask the critics, lost
touch with reality? On the eve of her
39th anniversary of statehood, does
she realize that she is jeopardizing
the goodwill of the United States?
The billions of aid dollars that flow
across the Atlantic? The military sup-
plies that ensure her survival?
Has Israel, the largest single
beneficiary of _United States
benevolence, simply become too in-
dependent? According to conventional

j

k

i

Giora Carmi

22

Friday, May 1, 1987

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS