Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin charged here Sunday that Syria and Libya are responsible for the recent wave of unrest in the administered territories and increased terrorist attacks on Israel.
Their motive, he said, was to divert the attention of the Arab world away from the Iran-Iraq war and toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Speaking at a State of Israel Bonds luncheon at the Plaza Hotel here, Rabin noted that the Arab summit meeting in Amman, Jordan last month made it clear that the Arab world is more concerned with the Persian Gulf war and the threat of Iranian extremism than with Israel.
“The threat of Israel to the Arab world was reduced to secondary or even third place in importance,” Rabin remarked. He said that most of the Arab countries — with the exception of Syria and Libya — were “ready to forgive and forget” Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and resume diplomatic relations with Egypt.
According to Rabin, Egypt, which did not attend the Amman summit, gained the most from it.
The Israeli defense chief left for Washington late Sunday afternoon. On Monday he is scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci and sign a new U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding that will accord Israel the same status as America’s NATO allies.
Rabin conceded at the Bonds luncheon that Israel suffered “a real setback which we are not proud of” when a single glider-borne terrorist managed to kill six Israel Defense Force soldiers and wound seven at a military base in upper Galilee on Nov. 25.
He said the IDF has taken all necessary measures to prevent such “mistakes” on its part in the future.
The luncheon, part of Israel Bonds National Cash Sunday, was attended by some 100 persons from New York City and the surrounding area.
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.
