Congressman Tells Rogers U.S. Bearing Down on Israel to Get Concessions

Rep. Benjamin S. Rosenthal. Democrat of New York, has told Secretary of State William P. Rogers that he fears the United States is bearing down on Israel to obtain “one-sided concessions” from her in the American efforts to achieve a settlement in the Middle East. In a letter to Rogers made public today by the Congressman’s office, Rosenthal wrote: “The quest for peace must not be made blindly, overlooking the importance of maintaining the power balance among the nations involved. It is my strong hope that the United States government will recognize that our ability to influence Israeli policy and our inability to influence Arab policy will not result in an imposition of one sided concessions.”

Pointing to “Israel’s dependence on United States military and economic assistance, ” Rosenthal said he feared that, “because it may appear that the United States government can exercise considerable influence on the Israeli government, it has become our policy to bear down on Israel in an effort to evoke concessions.” Rosenthal, who is chairman of the subcommittee on Europe of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged “prompt” approval of Israel’s request for additional military aid. Nothing the step-up in Soviet arms shipments to Arab states, he said “there apparently has been no decision with regard to Israel’s pending request for additional aid, now about a year old.” He added in his letter to Rogers: “We have seen over and over again, Mr. Secretary, that while the United States withholds approval of Israel’s arms requests, the Soviets continue and even step up arms shipments to their Arab clients.”