Churba Suggests That Israel Become an ‘unaligned’ Third Power in the Middle East

The director of the Center for International Security, Joseph Churba, suggested today that because of the inability of the United States to offset Soviet adventurism in the Middle East, Israel might consider reshifting its policy away from the U.S. and become an “unaligned” third power in the Mideast.

Israel, Churba told some 100 persons attending a conference on U.S. policy in the Mideast here, should “emerge from its status as an undervalued strategic asset of the United States to that of a third unaligned power” in the region, “shifting its weight East or West in accordance with its security needs.” The conference was sponsored by the Sephardic House at Shearith Israel.

Churba, who worked with President Reagan as an advisor on foreign and defense policy during Reagan’s presidential campaign, said such a move by Israel would create a “triangle” effect in which Jerusalem would have to be considered in any moves in the Mideast by either the U.S. or the Soviet Union. He noted that the Israeli military is ranked as the fourth best in the world.

The first step toward such a move, Churba continued, would be for the Israeli government to cancel the scheduled delivery in 1985 of 75 American-made F-16 jet fighter planes and work to enhance the development of its second generation Lavie aircraft. He said that while the U.S. appear willing to “concede” air superiority in the Mideast to the Soviets through the latter’s placement of SAM-5 anti-aircraft missile batteries in Syria, Israel could not afford to relinquish its air superiority in the region.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, speaking before Churba, said he interpreted Reagan’s decision to send Secretary of State George Shultz to the Middle East as a “diversionary” move to offset the failed peace initiative. He said it is crucial for the Administration to demonstrate activity and interest in the region but said that Shultz “is scarcely a very skilled diplomat.”