Sen. Richard S. Schwelker of Pennsylvania, a member of the Armed Services Committee, warned here that “Threat of another full-scale war could be the price to pay if the United States does not keep Israel militarily strong and she falls behind in the Middle East arms race.” The Republican legislator, who served on an aircraft carrier in World War II, continued: “I think it is high time we assure Israel of a continuing supply of up-to-date supersonic aircraft. In this way, and only in this way, will we make it perfectly clear to the Soviet Union that we will not let the balance of power in the Middle East tip against Israel.”
Addressing the 57th annual national convention of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Schwelker asserted that the recently signed 15-year treaty between the Soviet Union and Egypt was the most serious development since the Six-Day War four years ago, and promised to help Israel obtain the additional $200 million in American aid she has requested. “Finally,” he said, “Israel needs our full diplomatic support in the current round of peace maneuvers. Israel’s position is sound, and it doesn’t aid the cause of Middle East peace for our State Department to pressure Israel into any instant overnight solutions. Some people, and they are often well-meaning, say that if only Israel would be ‘reasonable’ we could have this Middle East situation tied up in a nice, neat bundle. But that’s not the way life is, and that’s not fair to Israel either.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
