Newspaper Page Text
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Friday, Jwnt 26, 1970
CAPITAL COMMENT.... By Sub Updd
Common, Uncommon Congress
Sentiments About Israel
Copyright 1070, JTA
What do Senators Barry Gold-
water, Republican of Arizona
and George McGovern, Demo
crat ot South Dakota have in
common? For one thing they
both believe Soviet intervention
in the Middle East threatens
American strategic interests and
that the Nixon administration
should provide Israel with urg
ently needed aircraft
That may well be the only
signfkant issue which unites
many of the 70 Senators who
sent the letter to Secretary of
State William P. Rogers urging
the strengthening of Israel's
military posture as the best gua
rantee against a major war be
tween the Arabs and Israel.
The Senate letter was the
most significant of a number of
Congressional initiatives under
taken in recent weeks to drive
home the urgency of the de
teriorating situation to the
Nixon administration. Some of
the support for the move came
from expected quarters: Sena
tors with large Jewish electoral
or financial backing, or tradi
tional friends of Israel. But
again, as in the past, much of it
came from Senators who are not
politically susceptible to Jew
ish support but are pro-Israel
for a whole range of reasons.
This time however some of the
signatures which appeared on
the letter were as revealing and
interesting as some of the miss
ing names.
The first thing which must be
noted is that H does not neces
sarily follow that all the 24 Sen
ators who failed to sign oppose
the letter's sentiments. Some
Senators never sign such letters
as a matter of principle, be
cause they are wary of joining
blocs, because they are invet
erate fence-sitters, because they
have genuine doubts, or because
their leadership position inhibits
them from influencing others on
a critical issue.
In this case a number of Re
publican Senators who are in
favor of selling planes to Israel
felt that it would embarrass
President Nixon if the Senate
exerted pressure on the admin
istration at a time of great strain
over the Indochina war.
They took this view despite
word from the White House to
some of the letter’s sponsors, that
it would not embarrass the
President at all. In fact, as on
previous occasions, the support
from Congress was seen as use
ful in offsetting inevitable Arab
accusations of pro-Israel bias
and the cautionary advise from
the State Department.
In at least one case a non
signer, Senator Henry Bellmon,
Republican of Oklahoma, ex
pressed his public disagreement
with the letter. Undoubtedly
there were others but they were
hot heard from publicly in the
days immediately after the letter
was sent.
In the two cases, Democratic
Senators who had signed previ
ous round-robins of support
for Israel, Albert Gore of Tenn
essee and Eugene McCarthy of
Minnesota, declined to sign
without giving reasons to the
letter’s sponsors. Senator Wil
liam Fulbright, a consistent
critic of Israeli policies, sur
prised nobody by not adding his
name.
But perhaps more interesting
than the non-signers were the
first-time signers; those Senators
who had previously not associ
ated themselves with the two
important round-robins of Con
gressional support for Israel en
dorsed over the last 12 months.
Many of these Senators were
from the South and included
some influential and powerful
figures.
The first-timers were Howard
Baker (Rep. Tenn.), Jennings
Randolph (Dem. W.Va.), John
S tenn is (Dem. Miss.), Robert
Packwood (Rep. Oregon), Ro
man Hruska (Rep. Nebraska),
Herman Talmadge (Dem. Ga.)
and Richard Russell (Dem. Ga.)
who did not actually sign the
original letter but associated
himself with it in a separate one
a the opening
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to Secretary Rogers.
The unprecedented range of
support from the conservative
side of the Senate is due to a
number of reasons. First there
is the acknowledged threat to
American interests from a Com
munist power which has aroused
the traditional anti-Communists.
Second, some of these Senators
are concerned that the Soviets
might misinterpret the divisions
in the Senate over Indochina as
a sign of national weakness and
wanted to make the letter as
bi-partisan as possible.
But a third reason which has
more to do with the internal
politics of the Senate than for
eign policy must also be con
sidered as a partial explanation.
It is put forward as a specula
tion although knowledgeable
Congressional sources regard it
as most relevant. It would ex
plain in particular the support
of the powerful chairman of the
Armed Services Committee,
Committee, John Stennis.
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