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Israel Will Grow,
AIPAC's Levy Says
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
I
srael at age 43 is more
advanced than was the
United States in 1820,
when it was about the same
age and had "just been
beaten up by the British (the
War of 1812)," former
AIPAC President Edward
Levy said this week.
Mr. Levy, immediate past
president of the American
Israel Public Affairs Com-
mittee, the only registered
pro-Israel lobby on Capitol
Hill, said Israel is one of the
strongest defenders of its
own security and soon will
become "a flowering democ-
racy, despite the fact that
things are a little wild there
right now."
Speaking about the status
of U.S.-Israel relations at
Adat Shalom Synagogue on
Tuesday, Mr. Levy helped
the Young Adult Division of
"We can be very
proud of what
Israel is, even with
the bumps in the
road."
Ed Levy
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit kick off
its political awareness
series, "A View to 1992 .. .
Election Year Issues."
In 1820, Mr. Levy said, the
United States was experien-
cing class warfare between
rich and poor. At the same
time, he said, unrest over
slavery was beginning.
"Israel is considerably
ahead of that," said Mr.
Levy, also a board member
of the Jewish Federation.
"We can be very proud of
what Israel is —even with
the bumps in the road."
Mr. Levy gave a brief his-
tory lesson on U.S.-Israel re-
lations, saying the United
States was the first country
to recognize and continue its
relationship with Israel
unabated. The Soviet Union
also recognized Israel in
1948, but that relationship
ended during the Six-Day
War in 1967.
"The United States has
been a friend from the
beginning," Mr. Levy said.
"It began as symbolic, and it
took a while to get started."
At first, Mr. Levy said, the
relationship between the
two countries was mostly
cordial. The U.S. provided
little military and little
monetary assistance, he
said.
Israel's first supplies for
its military came from
France. The United States
sold Israel its first arms in
the early 1960s.
France cut off supplies to
Israel after the Six-Day War.
Mr. Levy said France's Pres-
ident Charles de Gaulle felt
Jews in Israel were "too
strong and too arrogant in
power."
In 1969, following up on a
promise made by U.S. Presi-
dent Lyndon Johnson, Pres-
ident Richard Nixon for the
first time approved arms
sales to Israel.
Israel bought the equip-
ment without aid, Mr. Levy
stressed. But $14 billion in
equipment losses during the
1973 Yom Kippur War real-
ly hurt Israel.
Israel had to replace its
equipment. At the same
time, the Arab enemy had
become stronger and richer,
he said. By 1973, the Arab
countries controlled most of
the world's oil and had
unlimited funds, he said.
Meanwhile, the Soviet
Union withdrew its recogni-
tion of Israel and started
supplying Israel's enemies.
"The threat became larger
and the odds were heavier,"
Mr. Levy said.
AIPAC grew. Its job was
now larger. It launched
heavy efforts to cultivate a
wide range of support in the
U.S. Congress for foreign
aid. It also lobbied against
arms sales to Israel's
enemies.
Today, AIPAC's job has
expanded, he said. On
AIPAC's agenda is lobbying
for approval of the pending
$10 billion loan guarantee,
supporting Israel during the
current round of peace talks,
keeping updated resource
banks on members of the
Congress and interviewing
presidential candidates on
their Israel positions.
Mr. Levy stressed that
AIPAC "has nothing to do
with" former Ku Klux Klan
Grand Wizard David Duke,
who is running as a Repub-
lican for president.
YAD will host three other
political programs this year.
The next forum will focus on
black-Jewish relations on
Feb. 26. On March 26, the
topic will be political ex-
tremism. The series will
wrap up with a program on
political activism on April
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15