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Senator Says U.S. Should Not Sell out Israel to Solve Energy Crisis

December 5, 1973
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Sen Howard W. Cannon (D. Nev.) said Sunday night that the United States can ease its fuel shortage not “by selling out Israel or any other nation” but by the “development of a national energy policy, in the wise use of energy we have and the development of new and better energy sources.” He said the answer does not lie “in secret deals, nor in policy decisions which would make the U.S. the victim of blackmail by those nations that have resources.”

Addressing some 500 people attending the annual awards dinner of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education at the Statler-Hilton Hotel, Cannon declared that the U.S. “must continue to pursue free and open negotiations, resting upon the underlying principle that the parties to the conflict must be the parties to the negotiations.” Cannon urged the United States to turn away from using oil as its major source of energy. He said unless it does so it will be in danger of Arab blackmail as has Western Europe and Japan.

Cannon urged a search for alternative energy sources as “the cornerstone of our nation’s energy policy.” The Senator also told the audience that the death of David Ben Gurion was a heavy and tragic loss to the people of Israel and to people everywhere who were interested in peace in the Middle East. Cannon, who had visited Israel several times and had met the former Prime Minister, extolled Ben Gurion as a man who strove to achieve peace and security for Israel with its Arab neighbors.

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