Kissinger; No Disagreement in Purposes Between U.S. and Israel

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, making an unscheduled speech before the B’nai B’rith international Council last night, said “there is no disagreement in our purposes and those of Israel” in “the main direction of our policy” both in goals and tactics. Kissinger had accepted an invitation five weeks ago to address the convention but he was not to return by last night from his South African diplomatic mission. However, he returned yesterday afternoon and delivered a brief speech.

The friendship of the United States and Israel “has always been a touchstone of the validity of our foreign policy in general,” Kissinger said. “It is a test of whether we can be reliable allies. It is a test whether we understand that peace must be based on justice and for all these reasons, we have worked together in the closest harmony for many years on the problem of the security of Israel which is essential, and on the problem of the Middle East.”

Kissinger also said, as President Ford said this morning, that “I will not pretend to you that the future will be easy,” The Secretary emphasized, “I do say that the prospects for negotiating toward peace in the Middle East seems to me never to have been better. And as we negotiate we will always keep in mind that first it must be based on Israel’s strength” and second that “it must be based on our common purposes.”

Replacing Kissinger as chief speaker at the session last night was the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Alfred Atherton. He said that the progress for Mideast peace would require “difficult decisions by Arab and Israeli leaders” and “the putting aside dreams of absolute objectives for the sake of achieving realistic compromises.” He said it would also require that the U.S. “persists in its efforts to keep the peace process alive, to avoid stagnation, to help the parties find solutions which are in their best interests and ours.”