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Too Independent?
Continued from preceding page
political
Washington's
prestige within the Arab
world?
• What value can be plac-
ed on having a reliable, stable
ally in an inherently
unstable, but critically impor-
tant, region? A democratic al-
ly, moreover, which shares a
common value system, and
has a powerful, unchanging
political and cultural affinity
with the United States?
Israel's intrinsic weakness
in its relationship with
Washington is that there are
no clear answers to these
questions. By their very
nature, the answers to many
of the most important ques-
tions remain highly classified
and cannot, therefore, be
neatly itemized on a balance
sheet.
Former United States Air
Force intelligence chief
General George Keegan has
noted that Israeli intelligence
to the United States was
worth "ten CIAs."
Senator J. William Ful-
bright, former influential
chairman of the Senate
Foreign Affairs Committee,
has conceded that informa-
tion from Israel on Soviet
weaponry was "worth more
than all the military and
economic assistance she
receives from the United
States."
One United States defense
analyst has estimated that if
Israel did not exist, the
United States would have to
invent it; that it serves as a
natural springboard in the
event of United States
military action in the region.
The saving in deployment
costs alone, he estimates,
would be in the order of $10
billion.
Nevertheless, it is—and will
remain—impossible to quan-
tify precisely the value of
highly classified strategic
cooperation, intelligence shar-
ing, the deterrence of Soviet
designs in the region and
other relatively intangible
contributions to the alliance.
But far from acting ar-
rogantly toward the United
States, Israel is now per-
ceived by some analysts here
as having responded with
supine acquiescence to Wash-
ington's dictates and as hav-
ing behaved without the dig-
nity that befits a sovereign
state.
Israel's decision last month
to break its ties with South
Africa—however odious those
ties might have been—was
but one example.
The Pollard spy scandal
was another. The scandal was
less an act of Israeli hubris
than the regrettable conse-
quence of an ill-functioning
government that has lost a
large measure of control over
its own security apparatus.
And while it is generally ac-
cepted that the affair, like
other security lapses, should
be thoroughly investigated in
Israel, Jerusalem's offer of
unlimited cooperation with
United States investigators
was perceived as unwise, un-
necessary and demeaning
Independent states have
their own vital national in-
terests which do not always
correspond with the interests
of their friends, even close
and trusted friends. More-
over, there are areas in the
workings of independent
states that must remain
closed to external inspection.
In offering its fulsome
cooperation, say proponent?
of this school of thought,
Continued on Page 26
Who Needs Who?
Continued from Page 23
Breathtaking:
It must be Jose Hess.
30400 TELEGRAPH RD.,
BIRMINGHAM, MI 4.8010, SUITE 134
24
Friday, May 1, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
AWARDED CERTIFICATE
BY GIA IN GRADING =
& EVALUATION
tions which have their own
vested interests. There is no
autonomous thinking."
What is needed, he believes,
is a clear recognition by the
Israeli government of the "ex-
tremely important" role of
American Jewry, which, he
says, has proved itself repeated-
ly to be a highly efficient and
savvy political asset.
"I am pleading for disengage-
ment between American Jewry
and Israel," he said in an inter-
view. "Let American Jewish
leaders determine the best way
to behave. Let them get on with
what they know best and do
best, completely voluntarily
and without interference.
"In my view it is a disaster
that the Israeli Government
meddles in the affairs of
American Jewry."
Howard Weisband, director-
general of the Jewish Agency
agrees that the habit of "lectur-
ing and talking at one another"
must move to a new phase of ge-
nuine dialogue.
This maturing process in the
relationship between Israel and
the Diaspora has been
hampered by the fact that
leaders in both camps tended to
operate within a "crisis mode,"
dealing with one emergency
after another.
"If I had the power," he said,
"I would call a summit of world
Jewish leaders to deal with the
vital political and other issues
before they flare into crisis.
"I sense that both sides —
leaders in Israel and the
Diaspora — are ready to play a
substantive role in the shared
arena of Jewish decision-
making."