Sen. Alan Cranston (D. Calif.), who last week became the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for the presidency in 1984, today stressed that the U.S. must continue a high level of aid to Israel as long as it also supplies the Arab countries with sophisticated weapons. (Separate story on U.S. aid, P. 4.)
Cranston’s remarks were made on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” when columnist Rowland Evans challenged him for leading the move in Congress to spend more “taxpayers’ money” in providing additional grants to Israel in military and economic aid.
“I think we would be in a better position to cut back on aid to Israel if we were not arming Arab nations that were in a state of war with Israel with sophisticated equipment, like the AWACS we supplied to Saudi Arabia which eroded the qualitative edge of Israel,” Cranston said.
He explained that Israel must maintain a qualitative edge since it will never have a quantitative edge because there are “many more Arabs” than Israelis. “Their strength, their security depends on a qualitative edge,” Cranston stressed. “When we provide AWACS and other equipment to a nation at war with Israel we erode the one security upon which Israel can depend.”
Cranston said he would “not advocate” that Israel leave Lebanon until the Syrians and “the PLO remnants who are now returning withdraw, I would like to see all of them leave very soon.”
CITES BASIS FOR ‘MISUNDERSTANDINGS’
The Senator said he would also like to see the U.S. marines leave Lebanon soon. While maintaining he supported the U.S. in its recent argument with Israel over the demarcation lines in Lebanon, he said the “misunderstandings” have arisen because the marines have been ordered not to have any contact with the Israeli military since the U.S. does not want the Arabs to believe the U.S. is working closely with Israel.
Cranston, the deputy leader of the Democrats in the Senate and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has long been a leading supporter of Israel in the Senate.
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