The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said today that reports of a proposed sale of advanced fighter aircraft to Jordan if true would “seriously imbalance” the military equation in the Middle East and introduce an added measure of instability into the region.
Kenneth Bialkin, chairman of the Presidents Conference, said such an imbalance “would not serve American interests nor Middle East peace” and suggested that the American Jewish community should be “prepared to face again the divisive issue of sophisticated American weapons being sold to so-called moderate Arab states.”
The Reagan Administration has indicated that it is ready to provide King Hussein of Jordan with new sophisticated military hardware. Congress has indicated its strong opposition to the proposed arms sales until Jordan engages in direct negotiations with Israel for a peace settlement in the Middle East.
Bialkin, in his statement, declared: “At the very least, such sales will create additional problems for Israel by placing an added financial burden on its economy that could severely threaten the chances of economic recovery. Because its traditional enemies are now heavily armed, Israel would be forced to take necessary steps to maintain its qualitative edge. This means that it must acquire more sufficient additional arms to assure that any weapons sold to hostile Arab states would not jeopardize the qualitative military edge that Israel now enjoys.”
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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.
