Ambassador Moshe Arens of Israel said here Sunday night that America’s differences with Israel are “tactical rather than strategical” and described the Reagan Administration’s view of Israel’s defense needs as “idealized and non-realistic” in referring to differences between the two nations concerning the negotiations with Lebanon and Israel’s settlement policy in Judaea and Samaria.
Arens, Israel’s Defense Minister-designate, told the 1,500 guests celebrating the inauguration of Bnai Zion’s diamond jubilee at the New York Hilton, “when our security and survival are at stake America must defer to Israel’s wishes.” But, he noted, “Israel and the United States are tied together by bonds of strategic alliance and strategic interest.”
TWO PRECONDITIONS FOR MIDEAST PEACE
The Israeli diplomat cited two preconditions for Middle East peace. Arab leaders, he said, “must first recognize, as did President (Anwar) Sadat of Egypt in 1977, that they have no military option against Israel. Secondly, they must have an incentive to make peace with Israel.” He also said that the current negotiations with Lebanon would lead ultimately to a peace treaty and voiced confidence that, “within time,” King Hussein of Jordan would join the Mideast peace negotiations.
Sen. Alan Cranston (D. Calif.) was the recipient of Bnai Zion’s 1983 America-Israel Friendship Award. Sen. Joseph Biden (D. Del.), who accepted the award on Cranston’s behalf, said: “America must treat Israel as an equal and as an ally, not as an adversary.” He said that “any disagreements we may have with Israel should be discussed behind closed doors.”
Biden urged the Administration to reject any major arms sale to Jordan, reinstate the complete aid package to Israel as voted by Congress, and refrain from interfering in Israel’s domestic politics.
Rabbi Joseph Sternstein, spiritual leader of Temple Sholom of Roslyn Heights and immediate past president of the Zionist Organization of America, received Bnai Zion’s 1983 Dr. Harris Levine Award for “a lifetime of distinguished service on behalf of Zionist and other Jewish causes.”
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