Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arens declared last night that there is concern in Israel about the growing perception among the Arab states that they can continue to receive United States’ arms and other aid while continuing a “policy of belligerency to Israel.”
Arens told the more than 1,500 persons from across the country attending the third annual United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Conference, that it is his job as Ambassador to reverse this perception. He said the U.S. Mideast policy has always been based on a strong Israel and a U.S.-Israeli “partner ship.”
In response to Arens, Steven Greenberg of metropolitan New Jersey, co-chairman of the conference sponsored by the UJA Young Leadership Cabinet and Young Women’s Cabinet, said the participants would go back knowing the necessity to convince the American public that support of Israel is not only good for Israel and Jews, but also for Americans.
Arens spoke at an Israel buffet dinner at which Sens. Alan Cranslon (D. Cal.) and Bob Packwood (R. Ore.) were honored for leading the fight last year against the sale of AWACS and other arms to Soudi Arabia. Arens said the two Senators were “heroes” for their “unrelenting commitment and support for Israel.”
Cranston and Packwood were given statuettes of the late Israeli Premier Golda Meir with the inscription declaring that they were “dedicated to the humanitarian ideals of Golda Meir and for continued support of the people of Israel.”
The young Jewish leaders attended the bonquet after an afternoon in which they visited Capitol Hill and met with Senators and Representatives. The banquet, which included dancing to Israeli music, was the entertainment highlight of the three-day conference which ends today. The conference has been packed with workshops and lectures on every aspect of the problems facing Jews in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere. Last night, blue and white balloons hovered over every table and a blue and white banner on the ballroom wall proclaimed “One people indivisible,” the theme of the 1982 UJA campaign.
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