Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R. Kan.) declared that American assistance to Israel is one of the “best investments we can make in fostering the stability of the Middle East and furthering our own interests in that important region.”
The Senator told a dinner meeting of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith at The Breakers hotel here that aiding Israel is the “right thing to do for one of our staunchest friends.”
Stating that the United States is now in “close touch” with Israel to arrange an economic aid program, Dole said that he expects the Administration to seek “supplemental” emergency assistance for fiscal 1985 in addition to a boost in military aid. For fiscal 1986, he added that he anticipates a level of assistance “at or above” the 1985 figure of 1.2 billion dollars.
Dole delivered the keynote address at a dinner honoring Madame Bea Alexander, founder and president of the Alexander Doll Company, on the occasion of her 90th birthday. More than 500 community leaders, including former New York Senator Jacob Javits, were in attendance at the opening session of the ADL’s policy-making national executive committee three-day annual meeting here.
ISRAEL MUST PUT ITS ECONOMY IN ORDER
While stressing the need to provide assistance for Israel, Dole said, however, that the U.S. “can provide emergency and ongoing assistance only if the Israelis take decisive steps to put their own economic house in order.” He added that “by all accounts the Israeli government understands and agrees to that central point.”
Dole asserted that America’s ability to aid its friends and allies — “particularly Israel” — is based on preserving its economic strength which, in turn, is dependent on reducing the U.S. budgetary deficit.
The Senator underscored the American commitment to advancing a Middle East peace settlement. He said that President Reagan’s 1982 peace proposal, which he described as a “major and innovative step,” is the “most attractive vehicle for waging peace” in the region.
“This nation, this Administration, remains as committed as ever to the peace process, and the President, the Secretary of State and others continue to give the matter their most serious attention,” he told the ADL gathering.
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