Former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban said here last night that “it is crucial for America and Israel to stand together” because “if we give the spectacle of rift and contention,” the hope for peace in the Middle East will fade. The “greatest obstacle” to peace is “an Arab vision of differences” between the U.S. and Israel, the Israeli diplomat said, Eban flew here from Tel Aviv to address the 16th annual policy conference dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Eban appealed for a full Israeli-American reconciliation in the wake of the strained relations that developed between Washington and Jerusalem following the breakdown of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s efforts to promote a second-stage Israeli-Egyptian accord in Sinai. He recalled America’s traditional friendship for Israel and their common ideals, remarking at one point that “freedom does not have many defenders in the world and Israel is among the surest of them all.”
Eban urged that “we remember how the U.S. stood by Israel in the past eight years (since the Six-Day War) and particularly in the last 18 months.” He said there is “no cause” to be “melancholy” or to seek “reprisal.” “Let us not search for what went wrong in March but what we have to do in April, May and June.” He said that with “American power and Kissinger’s talents,” Israel and the U.S. can “repair the texture of our relations,”
The former Foreign Minister suggested a resumption of step-by-step diplomacy “arising from integrated discussion,” He appeared to be referring to resumption of the Geneva conference to be followed by bilateral discussions between Israel and its neighbors, but he did not specifically mention Geneva. On the issue of the Palestinians, Eban said they can enter negotiations if they have unquestioning respect for “Israel’s sovereignty and national personality.” But “there can be no Palestine without Israel” while “Israel and Palestine side-by-side, can be negotiated.”
SANDERS IS NEW AIPAC PRESIDENT
President Ford sent a message expressing hope that AIPAC will make a “meaningful contribution to a just and durable peace.” The message, read by Morris J. Amitay, AIPAC’s new executive director, honored Isaiah L. Kenen who has retired as the organization’s chairman and executive director. Edward Sanders, a Los Angeles attorney and immediate past president of the Jewish Federation-Council of Los Angeles, is AIPAC’s new president.
Sanders, a member of the corporate board of the United Way in Los Angeles and a member of the Mayor’s City Commission Task Force, is a director of the Joint Distribution Committee, a trustee of the Institute for Jewish Life, and a member of the executive committee of the United Jewish Appeal. He was chairman of the United Jewish Welfare Fund-Israel Emergency Fund campaign in 1970 and 1971, Kenen retired April 1 following 25 years in AIPAC and predecessor organizations in Washington.
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