Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens doubts that Israel will benefit from the “new world order” proclaimed by President Bush after the defeat of Iraq in the Persian Gulf War.
“The new order has been very slow in influencing events,” he observed in an interview Wednesday in the German daily Die Welt.
Saddam Hussein is still in power in Baghdad, Syria has virtually annexed Lebanon, terrorism continues and arms shipments to Arab dictators have not stopped, the Israeli defense chief said.
Arens said the Gulf war confirmed a fundamental precept that will continue to guide Israeli policy. “Israel must rely on itself and on no one else,” he said.
He noted that it took the international coalition against Saddam Hussein five months to organize and to act.
“Israel is a small and vulnerable country. In the area of security, it has no room for maneuvering. We have no time to sit and wait till our friends are willing to help us. The Gulf war underlined this reality,” Arens said.
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