Only 20 percent of the more than 50,000 participants in a “Great Decisions 1980” opinion pall, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) indicated they wanted the United States to press Israel “for enough concessions on Palestinian rights to bring about comprehensive negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, “including Jordon, Syria and Lebanon as well as Egypt.
Described as its “nationwide foreign policy discussion program,” the association declared that the more than 50,000 ballots received since the May I deadline was “the highest numbers of ballots received since the nationwide annual opinion ballot was instituted in 1976.” Eight areas of foreign policy, each with a variant of opinions, were listed in the 1980 ballot, one being “The Mideast and the Gulf.”
The FPA reported that “a clear majority, 56 percent favored a policy of working with both Egypt and Israel toward an agreed formula on Palestinian rights, pressing both sides when necessary to promote agreement.” The FPA reported that 19 percent “favored letting Egypt and Israel work to resolve the problem at their own pace.” Two percent wrote in opinions, the content of which the report did not disclose, and three percent selected more than one option, the FPA reported in its special ballot issue.
WANT MORE DIRECT U.S. ROLE IN PERSIAN GULF
The FPA report declared that “the more assertive foreign policy mood of most participants was visible with respect to the most volatile of recent foreign policy areas, the Persian Gulf.” On a ballot listing three options, 41 percent preferred “to see the United States play a more direct role than hitherto in maintaining the region’s security and favored increasing U.S. military capabilities for this purpose.” Only 24 percent would accept the building up of military capabilities “of friendly powers in the region and only 18 percent would have the United States limit its commitments in the region to the present level.”
On an issue of special concern to Israel and its friends, who fear United States pressure on Israel to win favor with the Arab oil-producing nations, and given the likelihood that “in the short run” the United States will “continue to be dependent on OPEC for at least some of its supplies,” the FPA asked participants to choose among several options.
A majority of respondents, 57 percent, chose “the middle alternative” which was to “make no concessions but rely on economic and political pressure,” while 28 percent chose to make concessions and six percent “opted for military action if necessary.”
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.
