Sen. Edward W. Brooke (R., Mass.) told a meeting of the Greater Boston Israel Histadrut Committee that the disclosure by the State Department that the Soviet Union was shipping TU-16 bombers to Egypt “proves the need for the immediate sale by the United States of additional Phantom jets to Israel.” Speaking here Thursday night. Brooke asserted that the balance of power in the Middle East has been disturbed by the “significant Soviet supplies to Egypt,” in the course of this year, and stressed several times during his remarks the need for the US to “immediately” resume the sale of jets to Israel.
Brooke, one of 78 Senator who recently introduced a resolution in the Senate calling upon the administration to resume the shipment of Phantom jets to Israel, stated that such a resumption would not mean that the US was encouraging an arms race in the Mideast. Israel, he stated, “has always been committed to peace, but unless sufficiently equipped against Soviet supplies, its capacity to defend itself will be greatly impaired.” He declared that Israel must have defensible borders and expressed confidence that Israel and the Arab states could achieve peace through negotiations.
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.
