Church Urges Reagan to Make Clear His Position on the Mideast

–Sen. Frank Church (D. Idaho), outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged President-elect Reagan today to make very clear his position on the Middle East, especially his support of Israel, in order to blunt the thrust of contrary views being advanced by some of his aides and officials of the new Administration.

Church, who lost his re-election bid last November, arrived in Israel Friday on a private visit. He said on a radio interview that he did not doubt the sincerity of Reagan’s pro-Israel statements.

“What concerns me are those other forces which are at work–those who say on the one hand that our oil problems would be solved if the Israelis were not so intransigent and others who say that if the Israelis would cooperate we could get peace in the Middle East and that would lead to stability and an assured supply of oil,” Church said. “These people have increased their numbers. Their influence in Congress is larger than before.”

ELEMENTS OF SUGGESTED BLUE PRINT

According to Church, “The new President would be well advised to lay out the blueprint of his own policy at the outset, making it clear, while his mandate is strong, to those of his own party who entertain those other ideas which they like to call a more even-handed American policy, that if they want to press for that cause they will have him to deal with; that his policy is one of full commitment on the part of the U.S. to the maintenance of a free and independent Israel and that we will not permit the Arab countries to use the oil weapon for the purpose of softening our ties with Israel or forming an alliance of convenience with the Arab states.”

Church, a strong friend of Israel, will be replaced as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee by Sen. Charles Percy (R. III.) who has publicly advocated a Palestinian state.