— Yoram Aridor, Israel’s Finance Minister, warned here today that Israel “will not allow” Syria to occupy Lebanon and “destroy and annihilate” the Christians of that country. Addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, he said that the downing of two Syrian helicopters in Lebanon by Israeli jet fighters this week was a “warning to Syria” to stop its action in central Lebanon. “We hope no further warning is necessary,” Aridor declared.
The Israeli official, who said he is visiting the United States to hold economic talks with Administration officials and to meet with Jewish leaders, observed that Syrian aggression in Lebanon “means that they are trying to make Lebanon into a Soviet-controlled state.” He said that Israel views the Syrian involvement in Lebanon as “Soviet aggression,” since Syria is already controlled by the Soviet Union. Therefore, Aridor declared, Israel’s role in Lebanon in not just to serve its own interests but also those of the United States and the free world at large.
REITERATES OPPOSITION TO AWACS
The Finance Minister, who devoted the major part of his 30-minute speech to Israel’s foreign policy, reiterated Israel’s strong opposition to the proposed sale of AWACS aircraft and other sophisticated American military weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Aridor pointed out that Israel does not seek “compensation from the U.S. to offset the Saudi deal, but wants the deal “not to be concluded.” He charged that the sale of weapons to the Saudis “endangers the lives of Israeli boys, “nothing that the Saudis themselves indicated that they are going to use the weapons against Israel.
He cited, in that connection, the speech last week in New York by Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, who claimed that Israel is a greater enemy of Saudi Arabia than is the Soviet Union.
Aridor also reiterated his government’s opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank “which will be controlled by (Yasir) Arafat who is a Soviet puppet.” He also said Israel opposes the return of the West Bank to King Hussein of Jordan because that would mean the same: the establishment of a Soviet-controlled Arafatian state. The only alternative, Aridor said, is to continue with the implementation of the Camp David peace treaty with Egypt.
Referring to Israel’s economic problems, the Finance Minister said the major challenge is still three-digit inflation. He predicted that by the end of the year Israel will have only two-digit inflation. He rejected charges that his economic policy of reducing taxes on luxury items, such as color TV sets and washing machines, is a “campaign economy” in anticipation of Israel’s election in June. He said that by reducing taxes, his aim is to stimulate the economy and to increase productivity.
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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.
