Administration Under Fire for Moves to Sell Arms to ‘moderate’ Arabs

The Reagan Administration came under fire from the U.S. Senators from New York for its continued moves to sell sophisticated military hardware to “moderate” Arab countries. At the same time, a New York Congresswoman issued a “challenge” to the Jewish community to organize and protest the changing “pattern” of the Administration’s policies toward Israel.

These views were expressed yesterday at the New York Jewish Community Relations Council’s annual Congressional briefing and breakfast which was attended by 250 Jewish community leaders. The three lawmakers, along with 11 other New York Congressional representatives, ranged over a wide variety of issues of concern to the Jewish community, including the Administration’s budget cutbacks.

JEWISH COMMUNITY URGED TO ACT

Rep. Shirley Chisholm, a Democratic member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that “in light of the Administration’s pattern of actions” regarding Israel, it will not “be enough to sit around at seminars and lectures” to change the pattern.

She said the American Jewish community with its strong organizational base and ability to raise funds, should take action similar to that of the civil rights movement when it staged marches on Washington in the 1960s to pressure the nation’s lawmakers to approve the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

WARN OF DANGER OF THE NEW RIGHT

Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D.) was especially critical of the United Nations and the new right, describing these conservatives as “radicals of the right” and warned. “Don’t be surprised if they bring anti-Semitism in their knap sack.” He lashed out at National Conservative Political Action Committee chairman Terry Dolan and cited recent statements attributed to Dolan critical of Jews in general and particularly the, “Jewish lobby.”

Moynihan, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, also charged that the February 5 General Assembly Resolution calling for the total isolation of Israel and declaring Israel as a “non-peace loving” nation, has set the groundwork for the expulsion of the Jewish State from the world body.

In response to the UN resolution, Moynihan said he, along with Sen. Robert Byrd (D.W.V.) sponsored a resolution in the Senate calling for the withdrawal of U.S. participation and financial funding to the UN if Israel is expelled. He said the resolution met stiff opposition from the State Department because it referred solely to the expulsion of Israel and not to any other nation.

CITES A DELIBERATE LEAK

In reference to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger’s recent proposal to sell military weaponry to Jordan, Republican Senator Alfonse D’Amato charged that it was “inappropriate” for the Defense Secretary to act as an “arms salesman to the world.” He added that the reported “leak” by a “senior official” aboard Weinberger’s plane while recently visiting three Arab countries, that the U.S. is seeking to “redirect” its policy away from Israel, “was deliberately put out.”

Appearing on ABC-TV’s “This Week with David Brinkley” program yesterday, Weinberger denied that he wanted to “redirect” U.S. policy from Israel to Arab countries. He stressed that “We can have more friends than one (in the Mideast) without lessening our commitment to Israel.”

D’Amato also expressed concern that Egypt, after Israel completes its final evacuation from Sinai on April 25, may return to its former posture in the Arab world. He noted that by a margin of more than 2-1, Americans believe Egypt has sacrificed more for peace in the Mideast than Israel and said there was a need to “alert” the American public of the sacrifices Israel has incurred in the peace process.

Similarly, Laurence Tisch, president of the JCRC of New York, said he, too, feared Egypt would return to the “Riyadh or Moscow axis” once Israel returns the final portion of the peninsula. In his opening remarks to the 250 Jewish community leaders, Tisch expressed concern of a reported Palestine Liberation Organization military buildup in south Lebanon, the Reagan Administration’s swing toward the “moderate” Arab nations and the proposal of arms to these nation’s which could develop into a war of attrition which Israel cannot win.

FEDERATION AGENCIES HIT BY BUDGET CUTS

Meanwhile, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York circulated a memorandum at the meeting detailing the impact of the federal budget cuts on federation agencies. The breakdown of the actual cuts incurred by Federation-supported agencies because of the fiscal year 1982 Budget Reconciliation Act include the following:

Federation employment programs under CETA Title VI (Public Service Employment) involving 18 supported agencies including the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a cut of $3.5 million; Federation Employment and Guidance Service under CETA Title IV (Youth Employment Service), a $650,000 cut; programs involving the New York Department of Aging, JASA, Associated Y’s, Metropolitan Council, and the West Bronx Jewish Community Centers, under Title X Older Workers Program, cut by $850,000.

The memorandum also said that nutrition programs, involving school nutrition programs (breakfast, lunch and special milk) administrated by the Board of Jewish Education for 185 schools, will lose $1.5 million. The total loss to date by Federation agencies under the fiscal 1982 budget cut amounts to $9,365,000, according to the memorandum.