Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon said, in response to a question at the National Press Club here today that he saw no need for United States military intervention in the Middle East if the U.S. helped Israel build up a military capability sufficient to deter aggression. He said he thought, however, that the U.S. has an obligation to “neutralize” Soviet penetration into the area. Gen. Allon also said that he saw no danger of direct Soviet intervention in the Middle East in the foreseeable future. He said that Soviet naval limitations, lack of air cover and difficult lines of communications to the Mediterranean re-enforced Israel’s determination “not to be the victim of blackmail” despite the presence of Russian naval forces in Arab ports.
Gen. Allon said that the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia provided a lesson “that small nations should be enabled to defend themselves and should be made viable in matters of self defense,” He said that self-reliant small nations are likely to cause second thoughts among potentially aggressive governments, even if they are the governments of great powers. He said that the temptations of military intervention would be outweighed by a reluctance to engage in prolonged small scale wars against small nations with strong defense capabilities. Gen. Allon told his audience that he was gratified to have been present when President Johnson addressed the B’nai B’rith triennial convention here Tuesday night and “reaffirmed U.S. policy (in the Middle East) as striving toward a ‘real peace’ in the area, a ‘peace of justice and reconciliation’–not a cease fire, a temporary truce or a renewal of a fragile armistice.”
Asked to comment on the President’s statement that peace talks between Israel and the Arabs need not be direct at the outset, Gen. Allon said his “guess” was that the President referred to the mission of United Nations envoy Gunnar Jarring who might “pave the way” by clarifying various points. He said the President had made “important remarks” on control of the arms race in the Middle East and maintenance of a military balance but added that he would leave the interpretation to the press. Gen. Allon avoided a direct comment on the differences in attitude between President Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey on the supply of F-4 Phantom jet fighter-bombers to Israel.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
