Carter Urged to Recognize Israel’s Importance to Western Defenses

A group of more than 170 retired U.S. generals and admirals sent an “open letter” to President Carter urging him to recognize Israel’s importance to Western defenses in the Middle East “and to reinforce Israel’s military capability so that we will not be forced to deploy our own armed forces to the Middle East.”

The letter, released Monday by Foreign Policy Perspectives here, expressed the view held in some military and political quarters that the Soviet Union poses an immediate menace to vital American interests, especially in Africa, Western Europe and the Middle East, made all the more dangerous by alleged Soviet superiority in the military sphere. The signatories included Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, former Chief of Naval Operations, Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, U.S. Army and Maj. Gen. George J. Keegan Jr., U.S. Air Force.

According to the writers, Soviet objectives include neutralization of Western Europe, in part by denying it access to critical raw materials, the encirclement of China and the isolation of the U.S. “The Soviet focus on the Middle East, as a way of obtaining these aims, represents a real and growing threat to Western security,” They wrote.

“We strongly support the pursuit of friendship and improved relations with all responsible governments in the Middle East. However, the ability of the U.S. to protect its security interests in the Middle East is closely linked, if not dependent on, the maintenance of a potent Israeli military capability in the area.”

The letter said a recent “U.S. Interagency study on the global military balance” supported the conclusion “that, in the event of a non-nuclear superpower conflict in the Middle East, Israel, by itself, ‘might deter Soviet combat forces intervention or prevent the completion of such deployment.’ At this stage, no other society in the area can be counted on the mobilize reliable, battle-tested ground and air units, or to make available secure access points. In brief, if not for the proven capability of the Israeli armed forces, we would be forced now to station a significant number of men and substantial materiel in that region.”