Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arens, who is expected to be named to succeed Ariel Sharon as Defense Minister, refused to publicly confirm today that he has been offered the post.
Arens, appearing on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press, ” said that as a “civil servant” he could not comment on his political future. But he indicated indirectly that reports that he would not serve in the Cabinet if Sharon remains as Minister Without-Portfolio were untrue.
“If you looked at Israel’s history … I think you will find no precedent in the past for a man who has been asked to join the Cabinet by the Prime Minister saying his joining the Cabinet is conditional on somebody else not being there,” Arens said. He added that it would thus not be “appropriate” for anyone to make such a condition.
The Israeli envoy stressed that decisions by the Cabinet are made through a “collective process” that needs a majority vote first by the Cabinet and then by the Knesset. He said policy is not established by any one member of the Cabinet.
SAYS U.S.-ISRAEL FRIENDSHIP REMAINS STRONG
Arens, who took up his ambassadorial post a year ago after serving as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, said that his 12 months in the United States has “reinforced” that the “fundamental basis of friendship and alliance between Israel and the United States is very strong and will continue to be strong.” He said those in Israel and the U.S. who are in positions to influence these ties should work toward “strengthening these bonds.”
The envoy conceded that Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger rejected the “framework” for an agreement worked out between the U.S. and Israel for the exchange of weapons and technological information Israel had learned during its operation in Lebanon. But he noted that such an agreement was approved after the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War and “We will have such an agreement again.”
The lessons and technological information derived from the Lebanese operation are important to the U.S. and the West, Arens said. He denied that the Israeli conditions were “too tough” as claimed by Weinberger in vetoing the agreement, Arens said the Israeli conditions were aimed at ensuring that there is a “minimum risk” that the information fall into Soviet hands through “some inadvertent” manner.
Arens denied reports that after President Reagan proposed his September I peace initiative, he recommended that Israel agree to Reagan’s request for a freeze on settlement activity on the West Bank. He said that the Jewish settlements contain less than three percent of the population of Judaea and Samaria and that cannot be an obstacle to peace. He noted that during the 19 years that King Hussein of Jordan ruled the West Bank, there were no settlements and Hussein still refused to negotiate with Israel.
The “pattern” for establishing peace was established by Israeli Premier Menachem Begin and the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, “direct face-to-face talks without pre-conditions,” Arens stressed. “That’s what it takes to produce peace in the Middle East.”
But Arens said that peace as he sees it means “Jews and Arabs living together,” including in Judaea and Samaria. He said Israel could never accept the position of Jordan that no Jews can live on the West Bank. He noted that before 1948, there were Jewish settlements there but after the War of Independence, Jordan destroyed all the Jewish settlements an the West Bank as well as the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. He noted that even today Jordan doesn’t allow Jews to live in its territory.
THE SITUATION IN LEBANON
On Lebanon, Arens said negotiations are now being carried out in “very good spirits.” But he said these negotiations are very “difficult and complicated” and urged “a good dose of patience.”
He said there was no use for the U.S. and Israel trying to criticize each other over events in Lebanon since both had the same objectives there. These are that “Lebanon is not again the base of terrorist activity against Israel and that Lebanon again becomes an independent free country,” Arens said. He added it would be “a terrible mistake” for the Israeli army to leave Lebanon and then find the PLO has returned. He said this would result in the end of Lebanon and the end of stability in the area.
However, Arens stressed that in the “final analysis” an agreement in Lebanon depends on “Syria being ready to leave Lebanon. That’s not at all clear at the present time.”
BUSH STRESSES NEED FOR TROOPS WITHDRAWING
Vice President George Bush also discussed Lebanon in an interview on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation” program. Stressing that Israel is “a strategic ally,” Bush said that the present U.S.-Israel differences will improve with the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon. “We want those forces out,” Bush said. “That means Syrians … PLO fighters … Israelis.” He said he believes Begin realizes the “urgency” for accomplishing this.
Bush said the withdrawal of all foreign forces is necessary for “Lebanon to be Lebanon … reconstituted, free, controlling its own destiny.” He said once this is accomplished, attention can be turned to seeking a “solution to the age old Palestinian question.”
Bush refused to say whether the U.S. has agreed to send in more marines to Lebanon as has been reported. He said the U.S. is working with other countries in an effort to do what is necessary to solve the situation in Lebanon.
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