I INSIGHT
Ed Pobur, Sr.
Is Back
Your service worries are over!
Riding Out The Storm
Hezbollah's murder of Col. Higgins
was clearly a ploy to drive a wedge
between Israel and the United States.
ZE'EV CHAFETS
Israel Correspondent
T
Ed invites all of his former customers and friends
to visit or call him at
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34
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1989
American
Red Cross
he crisis surrounding
the Israeli capture of
Hezbollah leader
Sheikh Obeid and the subse-
quent efforts to win the
release of Israeli and western
hostages held in Lebanon,
has focused attention on the
relationship between Jeru-
salem and Washington. That
relationship, which developed
into something very much
like an alliance during the
Reagan administration, is
now undergoing its first test
under George Bush. And,
although final results are not
yet in, political circles here
feel a qualified optimism
about the state of U.S.-Israeli
relations.
Hezbollah's announced ex-
ecution of American Col.
William Higgins, coupled
with the threat to murder
other American hostages, was
clearly designed to influence
American public opinion,
force U.S. pressure on Israel
and drive a wedge between
the two countries.
Initially it appeared that
the tactic might succeed.
President Bush's symmetrical
call for all parties — including
Israel — to release hostages
was taken as a sign of
American displeasure.
According to Foreign
Minister Moshe Arens,
Secretary of State James
Baker expressed "a certain
amount of criticism" at
Israel's failure to coordinate
its operation with the U.S.
Most troubling of all was
Senate Majority Leader
Robert Dole's angry denun-
ciation of Israeli "insensitivi-
ty" to the welfare of
American citizens. In the first
few days after the capture of
Sheikh Obeid, it appeared
that the main casualty of the
operation could well be
Israeli-American friendship.
The Israeli reaction to
American criticism was
unusually unified. The deci-
sion to capture Sheikh Obeid,
taken two months ago in a
secret cabinet meeting, enjoys
almost unprecedented bi-
partisan support here, and in-
dications that Israel, and not
Hezbollah, might be blamed
for the murder of American
hostages evoked anger and
dismay.
Writing
in
Ha'aretz,
respected columnist Yoel
Marcus, normally a critic
Prime Minister Shamir,
observed that, "the Bush ad-
ministration, with its aircraft
carriers sailing to and from,
would appear less ridiculous
if it turned its resolve to coor-
dinating with us in dealing
with Hezbollah and its
patron, Iran, instead of direc-
ting its anger toward us."
And Yediot Aharonot,
Israel's largest newspaper,
opined that, "if the tragic
event (the murder of Colonel
Moshe Arens:
'A high degree of coordination.'
Higgins) injures, even slight-
ly, America's relations with
Israel, it will be a deluxe prize
for the Islamic fanatics, and
a shot in the arm for their
future outrages."
Fear that relations with the
U.S. were endangered set off
a flurry of Israeli diplomatic
activity. Foreign Minister
Arens spoke on the telephone
with Secretary State Baker
and reportedly worked out
three principles of agreement:
That there would be no sur-
render to terrorism, that
responsibility for the safety of
the hostages would be placed
squarely on Hezbollah, and
that the organization's
patrons, Syria and Iran,
would share a degree of that
responsibility.
On the public opinion front,
the Foreign Ministry
established an emergency
committee headed by Deputy
Minister Benyamin Netan-
yahu, aimed at explaining the
Israeli position abroad,
primarily in the United
States. Netanyahu, Cabinet
Minister Ehud Olmert, and
Israel's ambassador to the
U.S. Moshe Arad, appeared on
dozens of television interview
programs in order to argue
the Israeli case.